Black and White Make Gray
by Helene Fyne
Summary: Sylar is changing the world, and Kale is going to be a part of it. The fourth volume in the Interesting Hobby series. Complete and ready to be posted at a rapid pace . Original Characters live here.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to volume four of the Interesting Hobby Series. This will be posted quickly, in the same fashion as the third volume. Remember that this story is rated M. And please don't be afraid to review. We love hearing from you. **

**Enjoy!!!**

**-- Mel and Chuck**

**VOLUME FOUR**

* * *

_**MAY 2540**_

Dani's knees buckle and I forget about her fuming parents in favor of catching her before she gets trampled. Not that the chances are very likely; the second Mr. Gray came in, people started moving away, subconsciously aware that they did not want to be near him. She opens her eyes only moments later, though. Wishful thinking, that she'd get to black out and miss the coming fury.

"Let's go outside," Mrs. Gray says flatly. She looks just as pissed as her husband, and it scares me. Dani and I nod, and we leave the club with her parents at our backs. Dani's arms are straight down at her sides, and every few steps one of her hands nervously tugs at the hem of her dress.

We end up in an alley, where there is a couple drunkenly groping each other. Mr. Gray sends a light shock of electricity their way, and they leave immediately. Dani's breath hitches, and I know she's trying to keep her emotions in check. Her fear is palpable, and I don't blame her. I'm not feeling so smooth myself right now.

"Kale, when you were younger you and I had a chat about respect for my daughter. Do you remember the conversation I'm referring to?" Mr. Gray's voice is low; he's barely in control of his anger.

I nod. "Yes sir."

His fist comes out of nowhere, splitting my lip and making me stagger.

"Then how the fuck do you explain what I just saw?" He grabs my wrist as he speaks, twisting my arm around and behind my back until I am on my knees. "You were fucking my daughter in a public place, so that people could see you. You used Danielle as an object, demeaned her." He twists my arm even higher up, until it comes out of the socket and I'm seeing black spots in my vision.

"Daddy, stop," Dani speaks up. "Don't hurt him. He wasn't _using_ me." I can tell by her voice that she is blushing furiously. "It's not like I didn't want it."

Mrs. Gray looks up at her daughter. "Were you using protection, Dani?"

Dani looks at the ground and shakes her head. "No, ma'am," she mumbles.

Mrs. Gray has angry tears running down her face as she slaps her daughter. "How could you be so irresponsible?"

"I'm sorry, Mama. I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again." Dani's mother chokes back a sob.

"Claire," Mr. Gray says. She bites her lip hard, squeezes her eyes shut, and nods. He looks to his daughter.

"Danielle, your mother is correct. If you are not looking to raise a child, then take precautions. You are not stupid, and I expect you to act accordingly." Mr. Gray's voice is cold, colder than I've ever heard him speak to her. She nods, blinking rapidly to hold back her tears. He turns back to me.

"Kale, if you don't exercise care in this regard as well, there will be consequences." He kicks me hard in the groin. Shit, it hurts. "Be glad I didn't cut it off."

I almost black out at the idea, but am brought back to my senses by the thousands of volts he's pouring into my body. My body is rigid and twitching, screaming. He looks down at me, his fingers smoking.

"If you disrespect my daughter again, I will kill you." I nod weakly and struggle to my feet.

"I am extremely sorry, sir. I'm sorry, Mrs. Gray." They leave without another word and Dani is at my side.

"Are you okay, Kale? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I can't believe they did that," she says. "Oh my God, I'm so mad."

"Don't be, Dani. I'm fine." It was still the most intense orgasm I've ever had—almost worth the aftermath. Being watched was…Jesus, it was incredible. But my girlfriend's parents are pissed, so I guess I'll have to suppress my exhibitionist tendencies for now.

"Let's go home. It's been a long day."

**_MAY 2540_**

We get back to the apartment and my balls are still aching. Mr. Gray definitely knows how to kick. Dani ushers me into the living room, closing the door and dead bolting it behind us before leading me to the couch. That tight little sheathe of a dress has ridden up her thighs again. I can smell myself between them. I almost swoon.

"God Kale, I'm so sorry. I'll never speak to him again. It's awful what he did to you-"

"Dani, stop it," I say, eyes darting up to meet hers. They're beautiful and wide and blue and I feel like I could fall into them. "You can't stop speaking to your father. It would upset you both." Not to mention he'd probably blame and kill me for the rift.

She shakes her head stubbornly and blinks furiously.

"No," she says, "He's gone too far this time."

I'm starting to get a headache in addition to sore testicles.

"Let it go," I plead, rubbing the twinge at the nape of my neck and closing my eyes tight.

Her eyes are watering now with unshed tears and I can hear her angry thoughts.

_--can't believe he did that. I'll never talk to him again as long as I live. He needs to stop trying to run my life, and why is it any of his damned business if I want to fuck my own boyfriend in public? And I can't believe she slapped me. She fucking slapped me—_

"I can't," She whispers, turning her back on me and stalking into the kitchen area, "They've meddled for the last time. They don't have that fucking right anymore. I'm nineteen god-damned years old; I deserve to have my own life sometime!"

I secretly agree, but I'll never tell her that. Besides, what her parents do, they do because they love her. They worry about her. It's more than I could ever really say about my parents—I steer my thoughts quickly away from that topic.

"Dani, you're being juvenile," she whirls around, eyes flashing fire before she locks that gaze steadily on mine.

"Don't you start with me Kale Flint Romanov," she hisses. The sound of my last name on her lips makes me flinch. I haven't heard it in ages. "Or I swear to God, I'll stop talking to you too."

I shut up very quickly. Dani's just pissed enough to follow through right now.

"Besides, it's not like we were doing anything they've never done. And we were enjoying our selves. What the hell is so wrong with that?

"Maybe our carelessness?"

Dani's expression sobers instantaneously. "It was one time," she says dismissively, trying very hard not to make eye contact.

"People conceive from one time, plenty," I say dryly.

Across the room, Dani shudders at the thought. I take a peek into her head and see her stranded amid mounds of filthy diapers and dead infants. The nightmare makes me frown. I've never been a huge fan of children. I can't really see myself taking the time to make a go of the whole father thing, but if Dani ever did want a child… I'd definitely go the same route as the Grays. Adoption is the only way to ensure what we need in family members… immortality.

"And so you see why your parents think protection is important."

She nods vaguely. "Yeah, whatever. So we need to work on that. It doesn't give them the right to assault us," she insists, "Or threaten you like that."

"Dani, I don't know if you've noticed, but your parents are over 500 years old. They basically have the right and ability to do whatever they damn well please."

"Bullshit. They need to learn to let go."

I sigh from the couch and stand. The ache between my legs has become a dull pulse. "Or maybe we need to learn to hide things better." The thought of hiding things from the Gray's excites me in a way I hadn't expected. I see Dani pause at the suggestion. I don't think it's ever something she's really considered. The Gray family is remarkably open with one another.

"What do you mean?" she asks, body going tense.

I approach her from behind, wrapping my arms around her small waist and pulling her back to nestle against me.

"Maybe we just need to be more… reserved in our excursions, more aware of our surroundings." I kiss her neck softly, letting my tongue trail down to her shoulder.

"Maybe," she concedes, turning to face me.

The ache in my balls has disappeared miraculously, replaced by an altogether different sort of pulsing.

**_JUNE 2540_**

We're coming back from a job when I hear _Leave Danielle and come across the street. We need to talk._

"Why don't you escort Ms. Malenicia to Ketra, Dani? I'll be right back," I suggest. She raises an eyebrow but continues her course with the woman in tow. I don't bother to mention where I'm going or why—she's still not talking to her parents.

I trot across the street into an ancient-looking diner. Mr. Gray is sitting in a booth near the door. "Sit," he gestures to the other side of the booth. I do, taking a quick assessment of the other people here. I don't yet have the ability to sense what other people have, exactly, but if Mr. Gray knows I don't have something here, he'll let me know.

"I asked you here so that we could resolve our little issue and move forward," he starts. I keep my face carefully blank. I know he can hear my every thought, but I find that a calm outward appearance helps keep things civil. I didn't spend the majority of my young life with this man for nothing.

"I meant what I said last month. Your current living arrangements do not release you from my earlier directives. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir. Only...I'm not going to stop sleeping with her altogether." His left eyebrow goes up, but I continue, "You had to know that the course of our lives together would lead to this. And I care about her." I stop talking, feeling my face grow warm.

His face twists into a wry smile. "I never said you had to stop, Kale." My blush intensifies. God, I don't want to think about this with him.

"But—" and his voice grows serious again "—I do expect you to do something about your professed feeling. If you don't intend to marry her soon, then you and I are going to have a problem again, and my solution to that problem won't be particularly amenable to you."

I pause for a second. Of course I'm going to marry Dani. I've never thought otherwise—she's my best friend and I've never wanted anyone else. The fact that he felt the need to bring it up at all concerns me.

"Just clarifying," he says. "It's gratifying to know that I made the right decision."

"Which decision are you talking about? The decision to show me how to empathize, or take me under your tutelage, or live with your daughter?" I ask curiously.

"All of the above." He leans slightly forward now. "Kale, it's time for us to…shake things up. I am going to create a new world from this current mess, and I want you to help."

"I don't understand what you mean. A new world?"

He sighs patiently. "Hundreds of years ago, the distribution of power was very different. I saw fit to change it and put myself in charge. I ruled the earth for a while before choosing to continue in other pursuits, and left it to its own devices. Now it's time for me to revolutionize the way the world works once again. I'm offering you the opportunity to stand at my side."

I take a minute to absorb all this. Raised as I was, I didn't learn much about the world outside my home until around age fifteen. But I can't imagine anything else. The grime, the common fear of the unknown, everyday violence, even the orphanages on the edge of the city…I assumed it was always this way. I suddenly feel very ignorant, and the feeling prickles under my skin, irritating me.

"How?" I ask him simply. It seems like a task too big to accomplish, too big to even begin.

"It will be easier than last time," he tells me. "Nations used to be a lot more organized, better prepared to deal with threats of this magnitude, and there are less people in the world than there have been historically. The plan is to assemble an army of sorts, pawns I can use, since I can't be everywhere at once. I'll be using influence and mind-manipulation as much as possible, but there are times when that simply isn't feasible. An army would be used mainly for this continent, since transporting them would be more trouble than it is really worth, but it will free me up to concentrate on other situations.

"Some areas of the world have managed to instate leaders and create rudimentary governments. I intend to destroy these and assimilate the remaining populations into the growing empire. Expansion is the next logical step, and after that it is simply a matter of molding things to fit my order."

Wow. He really does know what he's talking about. "Where are you going to find soldiers?"

Mr. Gray smiles. "I won't. _You_ will. You work as a finder, with access to hundreds of files. Locate the people we need, and extend the offer to them. If they accept, we can decide where to send them for further instruction. If not…" he shrugs, "kill them." Sounds easy enough.

"When are we going to start all this?"

"Very soon. I'll let you know when to reach out to people, but in the meantime, start keeping tabs on people at work," he says.

We stand and he looks back toward the kitchen. An older, plump woman stands behind the counter, clearing dishes.

"Go order some coffee. Jaclyn could use a sympathetic ear, and her shift will end in an hour."

I grin. "What's she got?" I haven't gotten anything for almost two weeks, and it's wearing on me.

"The same gift as your mother."

My face stays neutral and my mind has cleared itself of any thoughts or memories that might betray me. "Please don't." He smirks and turns to leave.

"What about afterwards?" I ask him.

"Leave it. I don't have time to wait around to play," he calls back.

I watch him leave, then sit at the counter to strike up a conversation with this stranger. Time to learn.

**_JULY 2540_**

Since my conversation with Dani's father, since he put the seeds of dominance in my head… I've been distracted. Dani can tell, and its bugging the hell out of her. The other night, I was so busy scheming that I didn't even notice when she started to get that look in her eye. Believe me, I won't ever make that mistake again, especially if she takes her retribution like she just did.

I came home this evening from working late, gathering information Mr. Gray had asked for. Dani was cooking; the smell of baking chicken and her mother's casserole permeated the tiny apartment. I could practically taste the food from the doorway. And then I got into the kitchen.

She was standing by the stove, stirring some sort of sauce in a small pan as it simmered over flame… And she was completely nude but for a pair of high heeled stilettos and an apron I'd never seen before. My jaw dropped.

And then, she tossed her hair and looked back at me, not even flinching and as brazen as could be. "Oh, you're home," she said, turning back to her cooking as if I didn't have an excellent view of her long blonde hair brushing the top of her ass and the blonde cleft between her thighs.

I hadn't been able to speak. I didn't know what to say. She wasn't showing any signs of interest… other than the nudity. She was just cooking, humming under her breath as she stirred.

"Dani?"

"Dinner will be ready soon," she said abruptly, "Go wait at the table." I did. I couldn't help myself. I think I would have done anything for her in that moment. She was a fucking fantasy come alive.

It took her another ten minutes to finish the food, and when she pulled the casserole and chicken out, I nearly fainted. All my blood had pooled between my legs and I was feeling lightheaded with hunger, both sexual and food related. She but a plate in front of me and took off her apron. Those pert and perfect breasts were hanging free, swaying as she walked and beckoning for me to wrap my lips around the tight peaks and…

The smell of the food distracted me again as she took her seat across from me, crossing her legs, those high heels still on her feet… And my gaze traveled up those smooth legs to the firm expanse of her stomach and lingered on those breasts again before trailing up to half smiling lips.

"Eat your food, Kale," she ordered, taking up her fork and dipping into the casserole herself. God she was fantastic, naked right in front of me and acting like nothing was wrong, like she wasn't trying to torture me.

So I ate, staring at her the whole time when the food didn't envelope me completely. The daughter of Claire Gray is a goddess in the kitchen.

By the time I was done with my meal Dani was only half way through hers. I contented myself by watching her eat, taking slow bites and chewing thoroughly before swallowing. I loved watching her swallow.

It was when she had finished and cleared out plates that she finally addressed me.

"I'd like to have sex now," she said matter-of-factly, jutting her breasts out and putting her hands on hips. Those stilettos were a good distance apart on the tile of the floor and I could see very clearly where her thighs separated.

I called her a tease then and she said something I couldn't really hear about how I should pay more attention if I didn't want her to make propositioning me a few hours work.

And that's how we ended up here, me sprawled on my back across our mattress and her curled next to me, long blonde hair stuck by a sheen of sweat to my skin.

"Why have you been so distant lately," her voice is soft, almost innocent. It's the voice I've never been able to deny anything in all my life.

"I haven't meant to be. I just have a lot on my mind."

I can hear her frown. "Like what?"she asks.

I sigh. Somehow, I don't think this is information Mr. Gray would share with his wife, but Dani and I… we try very hard not to keep secrets from one another.

"Your father." She grows stiff against me. She still hasn't forgiven him for the scene in the club. We've missed weekly dinners for two months now.

"You don't have to be worried about him," she says bitterly, "He won't ever be a problem for us again."

"Dani, I really wish you would let that go. I'm not holding a grudge."

"They're not trying to run your life like they're trying to run mine," she retorts. I sigh again and bring my hand to my forehead where a headache is quickly developing.

"Whatever. That's not what I meant anyway."

"What did you mean then?" She nestles closer to me. Her breath is soft and ticklish against my ribs.

I stare up at the ceiling for a few minutes, letting her shallow breaths caress my skin in the moment before I speak.

"I talked to your dad last month," she growls at my words, "And we discussed something big."

"How big?"

"World domination, big."

Dani holds her breath for a second and then chuckles wryly. "He's gone off the edge," she says breathlessly. The way she says it, so doubtful and derisive… it makes me cross. I sit up on the bed and swing my legs over the side so my feet meet the floor.

"I'm not kidding, Dani," I say.

"Of course you are. Daddy would never seriously consider world domination. Jesus, even the words are trite."

Now I'm pissed. I've spent the last month working on this "trite" plan, and she's treating it like nothing more than a fantasy. "What would you know?" I hiss, "All you do every day is go to work and then come back here and waste your time. You act like one of the sheep your father and I are trying to lead."

The sharp intake of breath and the look on her face, like I've slapped her, tell me I've gone too far.

"God, Dani. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." I slide back onto the bed, reaching for her, but she's up and storming across the room before I even have a chance to touch her.

"If spending time with the person I love on a daily basis makes me a sheep… then you can just go fuck yourself," she calls as she rushes into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and turning the shower on full force.

Wow. I've screwed up royally. Still, she doesn't have any idea of the scope of this thing Mr. Gray and I are planning. She doesn't understand that it's not just about power… it's about molding the world into something useful. It's about giving the chaotic world a semblance of order and purpose. And a little bit about power. She doesn't understand that when this happens… she'll be one of the two most powerful women in the world. She'll be a Goddess not just to me, but to the rest of the world as well.

She'll come around. I guess until then I'll just have to grovel.

**_SEPTEMBER 2540_**

I'm fucking hungry.

I haven't taken any more abilities since the woman at the diner. Jaclyn was a classic sob story, and combined with the fact that she had the ability to get an object's history by touching it, it added up for an unsatisfying experience. I ended up thinking way too much about my mother, and I haven't been able to get the whole thing off my mind.

Things with Dani have smoothed over, mostly. A few days of apologizing and worshipping at her feet got her hackles down, but she's still not on board with her father's vision, and we've only recently resumed family dinners at their house. We don't talk about Mr. Gray's plan for the world at home—it just pisses us both off.

But seriously, I can't concentrate. I'm starving for something new, and all this other emotion is just making it worse. And in order to satisfy the hunger, I have to go out and take on some stranger's perspective and act like their problems are mine and _empathize_ with them…

"Kale, what the hell?" I look to see my knuckles skinned and broken, and my blood on the brick wall at my side. Dani's face is anxious. "Are you okay?"

"No," I snap, "I'm not. I need to find someone." I kick a nearby trashcan viciously, but it does nothing for my rising temper.

"Okay, well, that's our job. So let's go," Dani says as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. She takes my hand and leads me back to the center, where she starts pulling out files at random.

"Here's one we've used before, Quaid Henson—"

"No names," I interrupt. "I don't want to know their names. I want what they have."

She goes on as though I haven't even spoken. "A teenager with the ability to breathe underwater."

Totally cool, but no. Even though teenage problems might be easier to listen to, something tells me not to choose this one. "Keep going."

"A man who can paint the future. He lives close by."

"Why the hell would anyone need a painter?"

"The future, Kale. Some people care about it, you included, I believe." She snaps her fingers to get my attention. "Yes or no?"

"Yes. Let's go, now."

We weave in and out of crowds, making our way to the painter's apartment. He opens the door suspiciously. "Yes?"

"Hi," Dani starts, "We're with the employment agency, and as part of the new safety measures that have been instituted, we're asking that all registered members undergo a short interview process." She's put on her professional voice, and the disarming smile that gets people to trust her.

"Interview process?"

"Yup, just as a precaution, to ensure that all our members are safe and healthy, and also to help our clients feel secure. It's just the smartest business move for us," she explains. Her unwavering smile and easygoing attitude get us into the dining room, where the three of us sit at the table.

"So how's this work?" he asks once we are seated.

"I'm just going to ask you a few questions, get to know you. Don't think of it as an interview so much as a friendly chat," I tell him, practically shaking with eagerness. I want it so much. The power itself—sure, that's useful. But it could be essentially worthless and I would still want it. I just need to learn, need it almost like a drug. Mr. Gray assures me that the hunger will become manageable after a few hundred years, maybe sooner.

So the guy starts talking and I listen. I typically use just the tiniest bit of an endorphin boost, to make them feel good about spilling their guts to me. Never fails. I relax as he starts opening up to me. At first he just talks about painting, bills, normal stuff, but then he goes and plunges into the deep end.

"I used to have a family," he tells me. "A wife and three kids. But the pressure, the stress, was too much for me. I didn't want to deal with it anymore, so I left. Picked up and moved here."

I bite the inside of my cheek. _Focus, Kale, focus. Ignore the fact that you think this guy's a scumbag and empathize, dammit._

"How old were your kids?" I ask him, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"My daughters were six and ten, and my son was thirteen. He hated me anyway."

I'm tense now, clenching my teeth. "Maybe you just needed to spend more time getting to know him. You know, try harder to be a good parent, a guiding force in his life."

The painter's face is vaguely scornful. _Don't talk to me about my kid…guy probably doesn't know the first thing about family or parenting…_

I stand up and Dani reaches for my arm. "Kale, just try for a second to see things from his point of view," she says in a low voice. _Yeah, he's a jerk, but you want his power, so just try—_

"Fuck that," I growl, and pin the man so he can't move from his chair. "You bastard."

"What are you doing?" he cries. "You can't judge me! I thought this was just supposed to be an interview!"

"Kale—"

"Go away, Dani. Go back to the center; I'll meet you later." The man shakes his head frantically.

"Kale," she says softly, standing but not reaching for me, "He's not your dad. It's okay." At her words, my fingertips start burning, flames licking from my hands.

"Go away," I repeat stubbornly. "I still need what I came for, and empathy's not going to happen." My best friend sets her jaw and folds her arms.

"If you're going to kill him, I'm not leaving you alone."

"Fine." I turn my back on her and saw off the top of his skull, just the way my mentor taught me, barely even noticing his screams. I run my fingers down the longitudinal fissure of the brain, feeling for the right spot…there it is. I inhale deeply as I understand how his power works.

"Yes," I breathe, satisfied.

Dani watches me calmly, not a trace of fear or disgust on her features. After all, she is her father's daughter.

"Feel better?" she asks. I nod and go to wash my hands in his sink. I feel slightly ashamed now, of the fact that I allowed my emotions to override my control. But Dani understands.

"You gonna try it out?" She holds out a paper and pencil, face excited. I can't help but smile at her.

"Sure," I agree, sitting down. I come back to myself ten minutes later, looking down at a rough sketch. It's the world, with the four of us standing on top of it. Dani's face is impressed, and despite the day's bad mood, I can't help but think that maybe this is what will convince her to believe in her father and me.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi! Please remember the M rating. **

**Enjoy!!!**

**-- Mel and Chuck**

* * *

**_OCTOBER 2540_**

I've learned a lot over the past ten months. For example: Dani likes going to sleep on the left side of the bed, but waking up in the middle. She brushes her hair twice a day, one hundred strokes each time. And when I put my tongue to her clit, she buckles her back and screams beneath her breath.

I've learned other things too, like the fact that Ketra keeps files on every single person we've ever brought in, as well as people she suspects may be of use in the future. I've been poring over these files for months; I consider myself an expert in the gifted these days. And it's not just the ones in Manhattan either, Ketra has files on people from all over the continent. I wonder how long it will take her to notice they've been tampered with.

As I set the latest file back down on her desk, I look about the small office. All four walls are lined with filing cabinets, making the already sparse space seem that much more cramped. It's difficult to breathe in this place.

From the hallway, Dani calls to me. "You done yet?" she asks, shifting her weight from sandal clad foot to sandal clad foot. She'd insisted on coming with me tonight to raid the offices for information. She'd said she was sick of me 'going off and being a bad ass' without her. And that's a direct quote. Even when we were children she had trouble handling it when I got to do something she didn't. The way she handled my training was a shining example of that. I guess some things will never change.

"Yes," I say softly, stepping out of the office and facing her in the dark corridor. This place always seems so much more official in the dark. During the day it's just a place we kick back between pick-ups, but at night… at night it's foreign, menacing even with its thousands of files and endless opportunity.

"Ready to go?" she breathes, rubbing her hands over bare arms. She wore the most ridiculous dress tonight. Miles of pale flesh is exposed to the October chill, and she didn't even remember to bring a jacket. I would offer her mine, but there's a reason we're so perfect for one another; the fact that we both tend to forget little things like physical comfort when it conflicts with looking good is just one of them.

"In a second." I cross to the other side of the office. The blinds are shut, but I remedy that in short order, pulling them up so that anyone looking in can plainly see the rows upon rows of shelves and the stacks of files.

"Let's have some fun," I suggest quietly, turning my back to the window to face her. At first she looks surprised, but I see her expression change very quickly to one of eager anticipation.

"Okay," she says before reaching back deftly and unzipping the checked sundress. The fabric slithers to the ground, rustling as it goes. She's left wearing nothing but a canary yellow lace bra with matching panties, and the color that would look garish on anyone else seems to bring out the colors in her hair.

I'm out of my own clothes in short order, and I pull her next to the window so she can look out. I'm behind her, hands toying with lace covered nipples as her breath makes fog on the window.

Her breath hitches as I move her panties to the side, pushing past them with my cock until I'm so deep inside her I can't go any further. The feel of her pulsing and clenching around me is delicious. She's so fucking tight.

She laughs as I groan but quickly loses her breath again when I withdraw and then sink into her once more. I'm unhooking her bra now and pushing against the window. Those pert nipples press against cold glass and she draws in a gasping breath, biting her lower lip and tossing her hair back over my shoulder.

We continue like that for a few minutes until we're both panting and lightheaded from coming so intensely…

I draw her away from the window and lower the blinds over the deserted street once more.

"Now I think I'm ready," I say, putting my clothes back on and helping her back into that checked dress.

"Okay," she says simply, buttoning my jeans and kissing me on the lips before she turns towards the door.

On the way out, the blinds by the window catch my eyes. I have to grin when I realize the next time those windows fog there were be a pair of Dani sized breast prints on the glass.

I stand smiling, ridiculously proud for a few seconds before I follow her out of the room.

**_NOVEMBER 2540_**

We're sitting around the table, lingering even though the dishes have been cleared. Mr. Gray doesn't see the need to 'discuss' his plan for the world as a group, but Dani pouted and he relented. Choosing his battles, I guess.

"I'm still not sure what the point is," Dani says petulantly. "Why are we doing this?"

Why? Because we can change the world. Because we're going to live forever, and we might as well _do_ something with our limitless time. Because when the world is united under Mr. Gray's rule, it will put this family where it belongs—in total power.

Mr. Gray smiles and asks, "Can you think of a single reason why not?" Dani looks to her mother now.

"Mama?" I'm not sure what she's looking for—advice, support, comfort? Maybe she just wants her mother's opinion.

"It's not a matter of if we can take over the world," Mrs. Gray says frankly. "Your father's done it before, under harder circumstances. The question is whether he can use his power to do as he promises and improve the world." She looks to her husband. "Instead of fucking things up and then leaving them to fall apart when he tires of the game."

I look to Dani; her hands are twisting in her lap uncomfortably. We both know that her parents' relationship is…unique, to say the least. But sometimes the power struggle bothers Dani more than usual.

Mr. Gray tilts his head slightly, eyes intent on his tiny, fearless wife. She stares right back at him, refusing to back down. I get the feeling they've had this argument many times before.

"O ye of little faith," he says softly. Out of nowhere, I'm assaulted by a mental image: Mrs. Gray, sitting alone in a small and squalid apartment, crying. Her hair is tangled and she has blood on her clothes. I've never seen her look so…lost. Hopeless.

Mr. Gray rounds on me in anger. "Out," he hisses.

"I'm sorry," I mutter. Mrs. Gray rolls her eyes at the show of possessiveness, and I blush. It was an accident.

We talk about a few more details then. Starting this week, I'm going out to recruit soldiers for our army. Mr. Gray mentions something about assessing the global population. I guess there used to be a lot more people on the earth, and now he wants to get a better idea of how many subjects he'll have. Finally Dani and I head out.

"Let's don't fly," she says impulsively. "Let's just walk together." I don't argue. It gives me a chance to hold her hand and just think.

Once we're inside our living room, though, her attitude changes rapidly. "Sit," she orders. I cock an eyebrow and sprawl across the couch.

"You're taking me with you on these recruiting things," she says, as though it's obvious.

I rub my eyes. Why do I feel like an argument's coming up? "I don't think that's a good idea."

"And why the hell not?"

"Your dad didn't say anything about that. And if both of us are taking time out during work, Ketra's going to get suspicious."

Dani laughs as she kicks off her shoes near the door. "Well, if we're planning on world domination, then it doesn't really matter, does it?" She pulls her hair out from the ponytail it's been in and shakes her head. "So you're going to take me with you." _Because I said so._

"Sure thing, princess. As soon as your father tells me so."

"Daddy doesn't care, as long as it gets done. All I need to do," she says as she straddles me, "is persuade you."

"And how," my throat is dry, "are you going to do that?" I lick my lips and she smiles naughtily.

"Oh, I don't know…" Her hands travel down to the button of my jeans as she speaks, "Why don't you just read my mind?" I do, and I'm blown away by the erotic images she's feeding me: Dani crouched over me, my hands on her breasts. My body jerks involuntarily as her fingers find their way inside my boxers.

"If I say yes, are you going to stop because you got your way?" She drags my jeans off me in response, and kisses me, sliding her tongue deep into my mouth. My hands reach for her ass, but she pulls away.

"No, don't," she whispers. I drop my head back in frustration as she kisses my neck, my chest, my stomach. Oh my God. Oh my God. She pauses before me, stretching this agonizing moment out.

"What do you taste like, Kale?" she asks me. I groan as she leans forward and kisses my head gently. She looks up at me and grins. "You taste nice."

She starts teasing me then, kissing and licking until I'm so hard it hurts. "Jesus, Dani, please." She giggles before taking all of me in her mouth, sliding her lips right to the base of my cock. Oh my God. I watch wide-eyed as she blows me. I've never seen anything so fucking sexy in my life.

The slight graze of her teeth sends me over the edge; I arch up and thrust myself as deep as I can into her mouth. She takes it and swallows before letting me go to look up at me through the curtain of her hair. She tosses it out of the way to let me watch her lick her lips slowly. Jesus God, this woman. She moves up to cuddle against my heaving chest, hitching her leg up to rest on top of me.

"Thanks, Kale."

**_FEBRUARY 2541_**

It's fucking freezing out, and it's just a damn shame that Dani's healing abilities don't give us the power to not feel the frostbite forming in our feet.

Behind me, the spoiled brat I love trudges in the snow, those idiotic high heels she likes so much bogging her down and slowing the entire pace of our trip. I still can't believe she chose stilettos and a knee length black sleeveless dress to visit the new camp. When I'd asked her about it, begged her to change, she'd just given me one of those scathing looks she reserves for when I say something she doesn't even want to dignify with a response, and then finished applying her nail polish.

"Could you hurry it the hell up?" I call over my shoulder, glancing at the light jacket I made her bring, still draped stubbornly over her arm.

Her teeth chatter as she starts to speak. I curse under my breath.

"St-t-top being an-n ass," she says, scowling at me through the whirling snowflakes landing on her eyes lashes. Is it my imagination, or are her lips turning blue?

That's it. I can't take it anymore. I turn around to face her, heavy leather jacket and jeans, mittens, scarf, and boots… they've all gotten so cold I feel like I'm wrapped in ice cubes.

"Come here." I order, holding out my arms and waiting for Dani to reach me. She stops stubbornly just a foot or two out of my reach.

"What?" she asks, looking at me suspiciously. Her arms are practically snow white against the black of her dress, now completely soaked with melted snow.

"You're putting on the jacket, and then we're flying the rest of the way," I say. Dani shakes her head violently.

"N-n-no," she asserts herself, "I can m-make it."

I have to laugh at that, she doesn't much appreciate it. "Yeah, as an icicle," I say.

She frowns and trudges past me, teeth still chattering.

"Oh, come on, Dani. Why spend all that time dressing up if you're going to show up looking like a wet cat anyway?"

"It's not that much farther," she says shrilly. She's right. We flew out to the deserted great lakes where the camp is set, but all the markers I remember were on the ground, so we'd had to land before we reached the camp. I guess that's the price of keeping things secret. Frozen toes and frozen girlfriends. The cow shaped rock to our left told me we were only about a quarter of a mile from the camp now… if we could spot it in this weather.

"Come on, you don't have to prove anything to me," I call, trotting after her until I'm right next to her. I try to take her hand in mine, but she pulls away, giving me the literal cold shoulder. "Christ, Danielle." I mutter under my breath, storming off without her and resuming my usual pace. Behind me she mutters darkly. I can hear her thoughts all the way through the storm as she trips over a snow hidden rock and swears.

_Nothing to prove, my ass. They didn't want me tagging along anyway and they're going to use any excuse to send me home. I'll show them. I can walk through a fucking blizzard if he can. I can do anything he can. And I can do it in stilettos, so there, Kale Flint, there. Let's see you do this in heels._

I look back, meet her defiant gaze, and shake my head in disgust.

"You're being an idiot," is all I say before turning my back on her again and heading for the encampment.

By the time we reach the camp, the tips of Dani's fingers have turned black and she can't feel them anymore. I'd bet anything it's going to hurt like a bitch to heal.

The wide circle of barbed wire closes around maybe one hundred tents, each with four sleeping men and women inside of them, trainees who we provide with three meals a day and semi-warm place to sleep as payment. Every single one of them is enormously talented, and every single one of them was starving when we found them. It's amazing what people will do to stay alive, what sorts of jobs they'll take… what sorts of saviors they'll find.

I lead Dani through the camp to the central tent. It's larger than the others, and it belongs to me. Mr. Gray uses it when he visits, but he's across the country at a similar camp on the West Coast right now, training the group there. He's been away for two months now. Soon that group's course of training will be through and they'll be put on standby as this one is trained. It'll take about a year for all of the camps to finish training with their new leader. I've been helping with some of the light training, but As Mr. Gray has an insight into how every single one of the powers works, he's working individually and intensively with each soldier. I can still hardly believe that we were able to set up camps this quickly and find a way to provision five camps with four hundred soldiers each through the year. Hell, I'd even wondered if 2000 would be enough, but Mr. Gray had assured me that they were all we would need on this continent, especially after he was done training them. I believe him. After all, I've been through his brand of training.

"So this is it?" Dani's voice distracts me from my thoughts. She's standing by the door way. The jacket she carried all the way here but refused to wear is in a heap at her feet.

"Yeah," I say. I shoot fire from my hands to the logs at the center of the tent and watch as the smoke rises up and through the tiny hole at the top. The tent isn't the most opulent thing in the world, but its cozy enough. A mattress with about a thousand blankets piled on top of it sits in the corner. A dresser with some of our things from home to keep us comfortable is opposite the mattress, and a tiny table with two chairs is over by the door.

Dani takes a tentative step into the quickly warming space and then pauses by the fire. Before I know what's what, she's screaming and then kicking off her heels to dash to the mattress. She throws herself down on top of it, burrowing under the mountain of blankets so quickly I wonder if she learned to teleport.

"Holy shit, Dani," I say, rushing over to sit on the bed beside her. She's sniffling beneath he blankets and I force them down so I can see her face. She's crying, but of course, she always looks beautiful when she cries, all glistening cheeks and brimming blue eyes. I grab one of her hands, pulling it up to inspect. It's pink and perfect beneath my fingers.

"It _hurt,_" she says sniffling and shivering in her still soaked dress.

"Christ," I feel so guilty I could kill myself. I shouldn't have gotten mad. I shouldn't have let her be so stubborn. I should have made her put on the fucking jacket. "It's okay, Baby," I croon, stripping of my own wet clothes and burrowing under the covers with her, pulling her out of the black dress and under thing's and pressing her lovely body to mine. She's still so cold.

"Should we—do we have to go see the people?" she wants to know. She still can't stop shivering, and now, neither can I.

"They're all sleeping. We'll see them in the morning," I tell her. She breathes a relieved sigh and then lets herself settle against me, twining her legs with mine as I brush through her damp and tangled hair with my fingers, fanning it out beneath the covers to dry while we sleep.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," my voice cracks a little as I speak.

"I'm sorry I was so stubborn," she sniffles.

We hold each other a little longer before we both burst into breathless giggles and laugh ourselves childishly to sleep.

**_APRIL 2541_**

Mr. Gray's coming sometime this week, but I don't know what day, and it's making me really nervous. I've been working with the trainees for a couple of months, and even though I know that he's going to take them to the real work, I still want him to be pleased with the work that I've done. I've been pretty stressed out, to say the least.

I walk out to the main yard to oversee the sparring. The trainees have been taking turns against each other, to improve their simple fighting skills. I reach the circle to stand among the other watchers. Dani's sparring with a young man: Devlin, who can turn his voice into a sonic boom. Dani makes a move so fast I can barely see it, and Devlin goes down. "Hah!"

The people watching clap as Dani wipes her forehead with her arm and offers her hand to Devlin. He takes it and says something to her. She laughs and lifts her hair from her neck, fanning herself. She's wearing sensible clothes, having somewhat learned her lesson. She's wearing one of my older shirts and some shorts, with tights underneath and tennis shoes. Even in practical clothes, she's still smoking hot. I can see Devlin appreciating her form from here.

I sidle closer to hear what's being said, managing to avoid being seen. "You're not bad," Dani says, "You just have to keep practicing."

"Maybe you and I can continue this," Devlin grins, "and you can show me how you move."

My eyes narrow. _Seriously?_ But Dani laughs and replies, "Yeah, you'd like that." Of course he would. Any man alive would. What the hell is she thinking?

Devlin reaches out to tug playfully on the end of her loosening braid and she laughs again. I'm starting to see red. That bastard can stay the hell away from her or I'll kill him. He actually takes off his shirt and flexes for her.

"Are you trying to tempt me, Devlin?"

Then Dani looks up and sees me. She doesn't act guilty; on the contrary, her face breaks into a huge smile and she waves. I stalk over and impulsively kiss her hard.

"Hey," she says, hands on my chest. "What's up?" I growl in response.

"Kale, you want to spar me?" Devlin asks good-naturedly. No. I want to kill you, you grinning prick.

"Probably not a good idea," I tell him. "I want to demonstrate some more advanced moves for you guys."

"So you want me," Dani says with a half-smile.

I grimace. "I'm not taking it easy this time."

Wrong words. She pouts and folds her arms. "Good thing I can't get hurt, then." She walks up, within inches of my face. "What's the matter, Kale? Afraid I'll win? Afraid you'll get beat by a girl?"

Screw it. I've got my pride, damn it, and her flirting with this guy has pissed me off. "Don't say I didn't warn you, sweetheart."

Her eyes are laughing, but I can see her respond to my challenge. "Don't worry, Kale. I won't mess you up too bad."

She starts dancing around as I call out things for my trainees to watch for and learn from. Once we start, I won't have breath for much else.

We face off and Dani makes the first move, impatient as always. She jabs at my eyes but I knock her hand away and feint towards her throat, pulling back at the last second. She scowls. "Thought you weren't going to pull any punches." She steps back. "Don't patronize—fight me."

Fine. That's just fine. We start again and she kicks at me, catching me in the thigh. I deal her a palm strike to the chest and immediately feel like an asshole. Dani takes that opportunity to break my nose. As soon as I can see again, I rush her and twist her arm behind her back, effectively forcing her to the dirt, where I plant my knee in her back and call it done.

"Okay, guys, let's go ahead and break for the day. We'll eat in an hour," I decide, letting Dani up. She brushes herself off as the trainees disperse and turns to face me. She's panting slightly.

"You win," she admits. "Are you done being weird now?"

"I'm not being weird."

"You were. You were pissed when you were talking to Devlin and I."

I start walking toward our tent. "Maybe that's because I watched one of my subordinates flirting with my girlfriend, and then watched her flirt right back. I don't really get a kick out of that kind of thing."

Her hand reaches out to grab my shoulder. "Whoa, stop. Are you seriously jealous?" Her face is incredulous. "We were just talking and having fun. I didn't realize that qualified as flirting."

I can feel the flush creeping up from my neck. God damn it. "I'm not jealous."

She smiles. "You're totally jealous. It's kind of adorable, actually."

"Shut up, Dani. I said I wasn't jealous." I stand in the middle of the tent, wishing we weren't having this conversation.

"Oh Kale." She goes and sits on the bed. "I think you just need to relax for a little bit. Loosen up."

I sit next to her and she scoots so she can kneel behind me and work on my shoulders. "I can't relax. Your dad is coming and I want things to be ready for him."

Her thumbs dig deep between my shoulders blades and I groan. "Daddy is going to appreciate all the work you've been doing. He'll be proud." I sit and bask in that idea for a few minutes. Dani's incredible hands massage the muscles in my neck and shoulders, and I start to think that maybe it's all going to be okay, despite the worry and the stress of all this. Her lips press to the base of my neck and I sigh in contentment.

"Hey," she says softly, leaning against me for only a second before returning to her ministrations, "You're the one that matters to me. You don't have to be jealous. I like to talk to people, but…" she pauses as she runs her fingers up my spine, "I love you."

It feels like something is swelling in my chest, and I swallow before speaking. "I love you too, Dani."

Our tender moment is interrupted by a shout: "He's here!"

Dani and I rush out to the yard, where Mr. Gray has just touched down. He looks with affection at his daughter before turning his attention to me.

"Let's get started."

**_JUNE 2541_**

I've been at this camp for nearly half a year, and the work has finally paid off. The week long absences from home, the loss of a good job, and the many sleepless nights without Dani prove now to be worth something. Mr. Gray has declared our soldiers ready. In celebration, we're letting the soldiers have extra rations for the night and leaving them to be supervised by the highest officers beneath us. As for me, I'm going back to New York, but first… I need to talk to Mr. Gray.

"Sir?" I'm standing just outside his tent, hands in the pockets of my jeans.

"Come in, Kale," he calls. He's sitting in an arm chair, on ankle propped on his knee and a book open on his lap. "What is it?" he asks.

I look down at my feet. This is harder than I thought it was going to be.

"I'd like to ask you…" my voice trails off. I can't seem to make it work anymore.

"Spit it out," he says, impatiently. I know he can hear my thoughts, but he's just the type of man to make me stutter over it.

"I've come to ask your permission to make Danielle my wife." After the incident with Devlin, I'd known it was time. If the way she'd reassured me afterwards hadn't been enough indication, my irrational jealousy certainly had been.

Mr. Gray raises an eyebrow and closes the book in his lap. "Is that so?" I hope the question is rhetorical.

"Umm… Yes." I fidget where I stand as he watches me, those dark eyes studying me. I know he's listening into my thoughts, and something that normally wouldn't faze me suddenly makes me want to die.

"Well, it's about time," is all he says before he reopens his book, propping it against his knees again and turning his face down to study it. I'm being dismissed, but I'm not through yet.

"Sir?"

He sighs, exasperated as he looks back up at me. "What is it, Kale?"

"I was wondering… about the bracelets." Mr. Gray arches a brow and I mentally kick myself. I knew this was a stupid idea. Now he's going to think I'm an idiot. I should have just let it go. Having her for my wife will be enough…

"Ah, yes," he says softly, "That is a custom these days, isn't it?" I can't tell whether he's being derisive or pensive.

"Yes, sir," I mumbled, eyes downcast. Stupid, stupid, stupid idea.

"What is it that you'd like to know, Kale?" I look back up at him, trying hard not to backtrack and forget about the whole thing. If there's one thing Mr. Gray doesn't like, its indecisiveness, followed closely by disobedience.

"It's just… it's custom. My parents had them… and I'd like to give them to Danielle."

"You mean you'd like to claim her publicly so that other people know to stay away?"

I meet his gaze, startled, but I nod. There's no use lying about it. The bracelets are a public declaration, and most people know to stay far away from a married woman.

"If I recall, it's also tradition that the bride's parents provide the rings, as a sign of consent?"

"Yes sir." I'm barely able to breathe now. What if he says no? What if he thinks it's just a stupid custom? He's centuries old. He's bound to have a different take on this sort of thing. What if he doesn't approve? What if he doesn't actually want me to marry Dani.? What if—"

"I'll take care of it," he says. My head jerks up and I look him in the eye.

"Thank you sir," I say quickly before he can change his mind.

He nods and looks back at his book. I turn to go. Before I can make it out the tent, he speaks again.

"When do you need them by?" He asks.

"I was hoping for tomorrow, after dinner. I'd like to take her back to the tree house…"

Mr. Gray chuckles and I feel instantly self conscious, but his words put me at ease.

"Good choice," he says, laughter on his voice. I think he's remembering all of Dani and I's childhood antics, but I wouldn't dare read his mind. "I'll have them for you by then."

I nod my thanks and then make my way out of the tent and into the camp.

I don't realize I was shaking until I'm in the air and on my way back home.

**_The next day…_**

I feel like I'm going to throw up. I came home last night and just lay there next to Dani, looking at the ceiling and thinking. I haven't had enough to do today, and every hour has felt agonizingly long. Thank God it's time for us to head to her parents' house for dinner.

"Why don't we just go to the camp for dinner?" Dani had suggested. "That way Daddy doesn't have to go back in the morning."

"Your father would rather have family dinner at their home. He doesn't want your mom to spend much time at the camps." My answer made her frown, but she knows that Mr. Gray is protective of his wife—possessive, really. Once he assumes control, though, he wants her by his side.

So now we're flying to their apartment, Dani holding me tighter than really necessary. The times when I'm with the trainees while she's at home make her anxious. It means that when I do get to come home, she's more affectionate than usual. It's like she needs to physically remind herself that I'm here. I can't say that I mind, to be honest.

"How do I look?" Dani asks when we reach the ground. I roll my eyes but smile. Her hair is piled on top of her head; she's wearing a lacy blue top, black capri pants, and high heels with ribbons that lace around her ankles. Of course she looks perfect. She's just fishing for compliments.

"Since when do you need to dress up for your parents?" I tease, pinching her arm lightly. She shrieks and laughs, slapping my hand away.

"You're just jealous 'cause I look better than you."

I snort. "Right. Sounds like you need glasses."

Mrs. Gray's cooking is delicious as usual, but I can barely swallow the food. I don't eat much at all, but Mrs. Gray doesn't seem surprised; she actually smiles at me sympathetically. _Calm down, Kale. You'll do fine._

"Thanks, Mrs. Gray," I say gratefully.

She calls Dani into the kitchen to help her wash up, and Mr. Gray motions for me to join him. I stand in the doorway of his bedroom as he walks to the dresser and opens it. I absentmindedly note the bloodstains on the carpet as he approaches me. The bracelets in his hands are not quite circles; there is room to adjust the size before soldering the metal shut. They are both brushed metal with an odd shining quality to them; the effect is understated elegance.

He hands them to me and looks pensively at me. "You're doing the right thing, Kale."

"Thank you, sir. I think so too."

He smiles. "I don't generally approve of great shows of feeling. But making Claire mine was the best decision I have ever made. Even Danielle…was a gift for my wife."

I'm amazed by this out-of-character personal revelation, coming from him. "Your daughter is the most important thing in my world, sir. I can promise you, that's never going to change."

He smirks, but there's no mocking behind it. "No, it won't."

I slip the bracelets into my back pocket and we return to the living room, where we find Dani and her mother talking on the couch. Mr. Gray kisses his daughter, I hug Mrs. Gray, and we leave.

"Hey Dani," I say, trying to be offhand as my arm rests around her shoulders, "Let's go visit the old neighborhood. Just for a minute."

"Okay," she says after giving me a weird look. I scoop her up and we take off. We're 'home' in just a few minutes. I set Dani down in the middle of the street and we look from her old house to mine. It's different now that we're older, but the tree-house is still there. She looks to me.

"Can we go up?" she asks with a tiny smile. This is easier than I thought it'd be…

"Sure we can."

I follow her up the ladder and marvel at the size of my old tree-house. We can stand upright, but only just. My hands are actually shaking now.

"Do you remember when we used to play up here?" she asks idly. I nod dumbly before taking a breath.

"Dani? I—I need to ask you something. Something important." God _damn_, why can't I talk right?

"Okay," she says, "so ask."

"God, I'm trying." I grab her hand like I'm drowning. She looks bemused; she must think I'm a total spaz. If I open my head to her thoughts now though, I'll never get this out.

"Danielle, I love you. I've loved you since I was ten years old." She doesn't laugh, so I keep going. "I want to spend forever with you." I reach back with my free hand and pull out the matching bracelets to show her.

"Dani, please marry me. Be mine for always."

She bites her lower lip and tears spill out. Her lips press together, and she nods rapidly.

"Yes, Kale. Yes!" I breathe a sigh of relief and embrace her. She's laughing now, wiping tears from her face.

She holds her hand out and I slip the first circlet around her wrist, bending it to the right size.

"Normally you hire someone with the proper equipment to do this part," I mutter, "So I apologize in advance if I burn you." That said, I focus a narrow beam of heat from my finger, being as careful as possible not to hurt her or mar the gift.

"Done," she says in satisfaction, lifting her arm to inspect my handiwork. I finish my own bracelet, and she takes my hand. I admire the matching symbols of commitment, and how good they look on us, before lifting my eyes to meet Dani's. She's beaming incandescently, and I wonder


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: These chapters are rated M on a huge scale. If you're not okay with that, turn back now. Many warnings apply. I'm going to suggest that if things like voyeurism, dubious consent, and other such kinks bother you, you leave. Otherwise, happy reading!**

**Also, these chapters were written before the new season and Gretchen's introduction, so any parallels are a happy coincidence. **

**-- Mel and Chuck**

* * *

**_JULY 2541_**

Being married to Dani is a lot like living with her in sin. Nothing about our day to day lives has changed since the private ceremony in the tree house, except for maybe the amount of sex we have. It's like we can't be in the same room for more than ten minutes without our clothes evaporating and our bodies becoming spontaneously joined. Honestly, it's starting to wear me out.

Which is why when she mentions that she's going to go train with the soldiers in the sparring ring, I wish her luck and roll over, praying for a quick nap to refresh me after a sleepless and strenuous, albeit extremely satisfying, night.

I end up falling asleep moments after she leaves, and when I wake up, I'm not quite sure of the time. It's definitely warm out, I can feel the heat through the canvas of the tent, which means it's probably around noon. It's a damn good thing the camp basically runs itself now, or Mr. Gray would have my head for getting such a late start. Probably literally. As it is, he's across the continent with the newest camp, training and indoctrinating the next wave of soldiers. I never expected world domination to be this time intensive, but when you have a plan that's actually going to work, it takes time to set into motion.

I make my way out of the tent and towards the sparring ring. I wonder if Dani will still be there, or if she's moved on with her day. She usually spends about an hour training every day when she's here, kicking all of the soldier's asses and then going down to get some breakfast. And so I'm a little surprised when I round the corner and see her dancing gracefully around a cute brunette with a chin length bob and a wicked punch. I've seen this soldier before. She's kind of hard not to notice when she's the only one beneath 5'2 and 120 pounds in the entire camp. I think her name is something like Ava or Eva. Either way, the point isn't her name, it's that she's actually giving Dani a run for her money. Every blow she lands is turning a fist sized hunk of skin into fleshsicles and making my wife wince before her body has a chance to heal it.

I enter the arena, unnoticed by either woman, and I circle, noticing things about the brunette's technique that seem to work particularly well against Dani. For one, she's using her power as an incentive for Dani to be defensive, something the healer has never really had to do before. She's always just taken her blows and healed in time to strike back wicked fast. And secondly, the smaller woman is just damned quick, darting just out of reach and back into the circle of Dani's offensive before her opponent has time to plan her next move. It's actually quite ingenious.

I watch for about ten minutes. I can't count the number of times the pair have passed within three feet of me and still not actually seen me. I frown at that. It's unsafe, being so wrapped up in this one fight that they don't notice their surroundings…

So I bust in without any warning, stepping between them deftly and grabbing Dani's outstretched arm just before it makes contact with the short woman she's fighting. I twist, perhaps more forcefully than necessary, but Dani goes down with a cry, falling to her knees as the other woman dives forward and I spin to the side, taking Dani with me and watching the brunette stumble and fall, catching herself jarringly with both palms flat in the dirt.

"Afternoon, Ladies," I murmur down to my startled wife, releasing her and taking a few quick steps back before she can recover and retaliate.

"Kale," she says. I don't think she's quite sure of what her reaction here should be. Her tone is half frustration half indulgence. It's actually kind of amusing.

"Sir," the hasty address from the other side of the ring sounds mortified and for a moment I feel pity for the woman. Just for a moment.

"You should probably pay more attention to your surroundings when you're fighting," I say, trying to sound firm but not like a total ass hole. "Sometimes speed and skill aren't a match for the things you don't see coming."

The brunette nods, her pale cheeks blushing a violent shade of red and her hair falling over delicate features in a neat little curtain.

"Yes, Sir," she says, panting and trying to catch her breath. Probably trying to fight back tears too.

"It's okay, Afa," Dani says, rising from the ground gracefully, her long limbs stretching and tightly braided hair swinging. "He's just trying to help. You were really good."

I can't quite be sure, but I think the woman is smiling behind her hair and looking adoringly up at my wife. As hair falls away, the look she's giving Dani makes my stomach turn. It's not a friendly smile, it's an invitation.

I scowl at the tiny woman, grabbing Dani's hand and making sure to flash the bracelet in the process. Afa's eyes dart over it quickly, but either she doesn't get it or she doesn't care. She keeps on looking at my wife with that disconcerting admiration and clear sexual invitation. I should know, I've gotten that exact same look a million times from women passing in the street.

"Thank you," Afa says, tucking her short air behind little ears and practically beaming. "Same time tomorrow?"

Dani nods and steps a little closer to me. The unconscious movement makes me unreasonably happy. "You should have dinner with us sometime," she invites, smiling openly at the strange woman. I feel the urge to usher her away before she can encourage her any more.

"I'd like that," Afa replies, grinning and winking before she turns to gather her belongings. Dani, to my disbelief, laughs and winks right back. I catch myself gritting my teeth, fists clenched with the sudden urge to pound the little brunette into the dirt.

But Dani's hand in mine and her bracelet brushing over my skin keeps me steadied until the other woman is out of sight.

"She's super nice, we had a chat before sparring," Dani comments as we're walking away to get lunch, "and it's nice to get to know a woman my own age for once."

All I can think as she tells me this is, _Fuck, Dani finally chooses to find a friend outside of our relationship, a female, and she turns out to be a lesbian. Just my luck._ What I say is, "Yeah, that's great."

Fuck.

**_AUGUST 2541_**

"Night, Afa," Dani says as she shows her new friend to the entrance of our tent. The smaller woman smiles and stands on tiptoes to hug my wife goodnight. It lasts just a little too long, but then she disappears. I have to make a conscious effort to unclench my fists.

Dani walks over to the dresser, opening it to find one of the camisoles she wears to bed. I watch her undress before remembering that I'm upset. Kind of a shame, really—otherwise I could devote my whole attention to the bare skin that's now on display. She turns to me, but stops when she sees my expression.

"Kale, what's the matter? You were really quiet tonight." I mull over my possible answers to that question, and then decide to just go for it.

"It's Afa," I tell her flatly. I can see her expression change from concerned to defensive and inwardly sigh. She's not going to take this well, obviously.

"What about Afa?"

"I don't like her." I'm sure there's probably a better and more tactful way to phrase that, but I don't think I can deal with her outrageous flirtation any more.

Dani folds her arms tight beneath her breasts. "Well I do. And she's my friend, not yours."

Something about her tone bothers me, and I rise to meet her attitude. "What, so my opinion no longer matters?"

"I didn't say that, Kale, so stop trying to put words in my mouth. But since you put it that way, your high opinion of her is not imperative to our friendship."

"Really? What is important to your friendship, then? In fact, why are you even spending time with her in the first place?"

Dani's cheeks are getting pink, and her voice is almost malicious. "What is it that bothers you, Kale? Is it that I'm branching out and meeting new people? Is it that I finally found someone my own age that I can talk to? Or does it bother you that you're no longer my only friend?" _Ouch_. Her hands have moved to her hips and she's still waiting for an answer. "Well?"

"That was kind of a bitchy thing to say," I tell her, trying to act like it didn't bother me as much as it did.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to be a bitch if you'd stop being jealous and selfish," she retorts.

I rub my forehead and try not to express my anger physically, even though I'm trembling with the effort. "Dani, can you just explain to me why you like Afa?" She opens her mouth angrily, but I interrupt, "Indulge me. Please."

She speaks slowly, as though I'm a child. I hate that. "Afa is nice. She is my age, and it's nice to finally have a woman with whom I can relate and talk to. She is funny and she likes me too, and she's never once looked at you like she wants to take a bite out of you. Do you know how many women meet those criteria? Not very many."

I blink, surprised. Has she honestly not noticed the object of Afa's affection?

"Dani…why do you think Afa hasn't expressed an interest in me?" I ask cautiously. Her brow furrows.

"Why should I care? Maybe she doesn't think it's appropriate to come on to her commanding officer. Or maybe you're just not her type."

I snort at that. I'm certainly not. "Dani, Afa is a lesbian. I'm not her type by virtue of being male."

Now it's Dani's turn to look surprised. I open my mind to her thoughts. Apparently she's more clueless than I thought. "Really?"

"She's been hitting on you forever. How have you not noticed that?"

She shrugs. "I just thought she was very friendly. You've already told me that I'm naturally flirtatious without meaning to be. Maybe she is too."

I shake my head. "No, she knows what she's doing. She probably thinks you're interested in her, too."

Dani grins and moves to sit on my lap. "I have a husband, though, and I really like him a lot." She kisses away the worry-line between my eyebrows and I sigh

.

"She doesn't seem to care about that. Dani, just… can you please say something to her? It would make me feel a lot better."

She frowns at the idea. "Kale, I feel like this is your jealousy talking. I don't want to ruin my relationship with Afa because you're being a tiny bit possessive."

"Yeah, I'm jealous and possessive. I don't mind saying it. But first of all, if she's really your friend and not just looking to screw you, she'll be okay with it. Second of all, you should know what it's like to be jealous. How many times did you resent when women flirted with me? You still hate it."

"Of course I do," she grumbles, "You're _mine_."

"Exactly. You're mine, and this woman is ignoring my existence so she can shamelessly flirt with you. It doesn't do a lot for my self-esteem."

Her eyes roll. "God forbid anyone should deflate that ego."

"Seriously Dani," my voice gets softer, "Please mention it to her. If you don't and she doesn't stop, I'm going to bring it up to her. I can guarantee that will be more awkward for everyone."

She relents, laying her head on my shoulder. "I'll talk to her sometime. But rest assured, Kale Flint," she looks up at me, "if I lose the only friend I've ever had besides you, I'm going to be pissed."

"Yes, ma'am," I tell her wearily. And with that, I pick her up and take her to bed.

**_SEPTEMBER 2541_**

It's been a month and Dani still hasn't spoken to her friend about the issue. As much as I've tried to push her to do so, it's looking more and more likely every day that I'll have to be the one to do the honors. At least I haven't had to entertain Afa for dinner again since the last time. My lovely little wife has had the good sense to keep us apart, and I can't say I'm not thankful for her foresight.

So when Dani brings up the topic again while we're both preparing for bed, I feel like drilling a giant screw into the back of my neck.

"I don't think bringing up the whole lesbian thing with Afa at this point would be such a great idea," she says matter-of-factly, fluffing a pillow and staring nervously down at her hands. I cross my arms across my bare chest, staring across the bed at her. I just _knew_ she was going to pull something like this.

"And why not?" I ask. I already know the answer, but I've found in the last fourteen years that when you force Dani to say her less intelligent ideas out loud, she gets flustered and ends up back tracking.

She scowls from where she stands, crossing her arms too and glaring down at the bed. "I just—Nothing has happened since we spoke last time… and she really is a good friend. It's not like she's made a move—"

"Like you'd even notice if she did. You're so damned oblivious."

She glares up at me, uncrossing her arms and pulling down the comforter and sheets. "Of course I would notice," she mutters, keeping her gaze focused on the bed as she carefully removes her nightgown, standing in nothing but the light blue panties and camisole she likes to sleep in.

"Come on, Dani, half the time you don't even notice when _I'm _in the mood."

She frowns some more. "That's because we usually want it at the same time, and at that point I've got myself to focus on."

Fair enough, I think. "And if you're so sure she's not hitting on you anymore, why haven't you brought her around for dinner again?"

Dani rolls her eyes and slips under she sheets, I follow quickly, slipping off my jeans and joining her in boxer shorts. The sheets are nice and warm and completely comfortable. Its way too easy to relax in our marital bed, which sucks when we're trying to argue. "Maybe because I know you don't like her," she answers, snuggling against me and wrapping her arm across my chest.

I sigh. "You have until tomorrow night," I say finally, "And if you haven't spoken to her by then, I'm going to do it." She stiffens beside me.

"Kale, I really don't think that's necessary."

"Well, I do. And this is a partnership. We decide things together."

Dani pauses for a while, unmoving beside me, and then I feel her melt against my skin, sighing and wrapping her long limbs around me.

"You're right," she murmurs, trying to sound sincere, "this needs to be both of our decisions." I arch a brow and watch her move beneath the covers. She's making the moves seamless and sexy, but she knows what she's doing. I take a moment to listen in to her thoughts.

_Leg up, right there…_ her knee brushes lightly against my crotch and all my blood begins to rush and pool right where she touched. _Fingers beneath the heart. _Those fingers drive me wild as they dance care-freely against bare skin. _Breathe on his neck_. God, this woman knows how to drive me fucking insane. 

"Kale?" she asks, running her lips across my throat as she moves to straddle me. I can feel her wet heat pressed firmly against my throbbing cock. Just a little less fabric and a jut of my hips and I'd be inside of her, pressed deep with my head against her cervix…

"Huh?" I can barely make a coherent thought process, let alone words, but I try. I know what she's doing… she's trying to manipulate me with sex… so why can't I seem to care?

"I know we need to make this decision together," she murmurs, hips moving slowly up and down over my own, grinding and making me so thick I feel like I'm about to burst at the seams. "And I know that you trust my judgment…"

I can't take it anymore. Before she can say another word I'm using some sort of power to rip our pajamas off and twisting us around until she's beneath me, back pressed firmly to the mattress and my cock buried in her so deep I can feel my balls against her cleft.

Her eyes have rolled back in her head. Her thoughts are a steady stream of _Oh god, Oh God, Fuck, so good, fucking yes. Deeper, deeper, God, Please, move, fucking move, _and I smile to myself, groaning and pulling back only to slam right back into her. She's pulsing around me, losing control.

"You're going… to talk… to her," I say between gasping breaths and clenching spasms.

"Ugh…" Dani sounds, I'm not sure if she actually knows what I'm saying. Her eyes are unfocused and the sounds coming out of her throat are sexy as hell.

I pull out abruptly, using my hands to pin her shoulders to the bed and teasing her with my cock between soaked cunt lips. She writhes and moans throatily.

"Danielle," I say. My voice is so deep and husky that it sounds angry, demanding. "Tell me you're going to talk to her about this tomorrow."

She moans again as I continue to run myself through those silky lips. Blonde hair sticks and tickles as I grind.

"Say it!" I demand, withdrawing completely as she cries out.

"Yes, fuck, yes!" she screams. I laugh darkly before plunging back into her.

She'll hate me in the morning, but I think this feeling and the promise I wrangled from her lips is going to be worth a few days of the cold shoulder.

She gasps as we fuck, making love in a dirty, primal way we both enjoy.

As I come, she sobs, gasping for breath with passionate tears streaming down that lust reddened cheeks. I am completely satisfied as I spiral into oblivion.

**_LATE SEPTEMBER 2541_**

Two weeks is a little longer than the few days' worth of the cold shoulder I anticipated. And it really hasn't been the cold shoulder so much as blue balls.

I read Dani's thoughts when she came in after talking to Afa. It wasn't nearly as awkward as she'd feared it would be.

"Afa? Are you sexually attracted to me?" she'd asked bluntly. Afa had smiled and replied that yes, she liked Dani a lot.

"Is that the only reason we're friends?"

"No. I really like you. I just _like_ you, too."

"Okay, well that's fine. But I really love Kale and that's not going to change. He's my husband, so…you should probably stop flirting with me." Afa had accepted that and embraced my wife, reassuring her that they were still friends. It seemed to me like everything ended well, so the past two weeks have been just a little confusing.

Dani's thoughts aren't very helpful, either. One second she's simmering with resentment, the next she's ignoring me, and then she's purposefully being very sweet, only to leave me with nothing. But today her thoughts and emotions have been decidedly sexual. Not just sexual, even, but needy. Needless to say, I think this short period of celibacy is coming to an end. Soon.

"Good morning, sweetie," she says at breakfast, kissing me lightly on the lips. I try to pull her in, but she steps back and winks coyly at me. I grin. I can play this game all day if she wants to.

Not that we have much time to play. I spend the morning looking over maps of the North American continent, planning and preparing for the upcoming takeover. Dani's out doing who knows what, and when I reach out with my mind to hear her thoughts, I'm gratified by what she's thinking.

_…it's been a really long time…maybe it wouldn't hurt if I…_

I block her out in order to concentrate on my work. My self-discipline and good intentions last for all of about thirty minutes before I let her 'voice' in again. God. She's reliving, in excruciating detail, the last time I went down on her. Listening to her, I can almost taste her again right now. She switches from that to the time we did it in an alleyway near our home in New York, while a homeless man watched with interest. He had pretended to be sleeping, but all three of us knew that was bullshit.

I shake myself and go out to survey my troops. Some of them have been instructed to work on finessing the use of their abilities, or improving their control. I spend a few hours with them, watching a few, helping some others; before I move on to watch some of the hand-to-hand fighting. With so little to do besides abilities training, there are always plenty of people there. I search the small crowd and find Dani standing among them, watching two speedsters blur past one another as they try to get in their hits. It's simultaneously fascinating and too fast to really keep up with.

"Hey," she greets me in a low voice as I stand beside her. My hand reaches out to massage the back of her neck and she practically purrs, letting her head drop to her chest. She moves so that she is standing in front of me, and then backs up until I am snugly fitted against her back.

"Did you get most of the desk-type work done already?" Her voice is casual, but there is an undercurrent of urgency there.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." She grinds back against me subtly, making me bite the inside of my lip to keep from giving us away. "But it's better to get that out of the way, so you can relax tonight."

My head dips to her ear as I murmur, "What's going on tonight?"

I can hear the smirk in her voice. "I'm going to have a lot of fun with you. That's all."

Her dirty mind distracts me for the rest of the day. As soon as dinner is finished I make my way back to the tent. Unfortunately, I really do have a few more things to do before I can be done for the day. I growl and sit back at the desk. Dani's still eating and talking to Afa anyway. I can let her get in her girl time while I finish my work.

She comes in when I'm nearly done and kisses the top of my head. "Hi, baby."

I look up a few minutes later to see her completely naked. After being denied for so long, the sight temporarily takes my breath away. I get up and walk over to her, try to reach for her, but she frowns and shakes her head.

"I'm not in the mood for that, Kale."

My brain feels like it's going to explode. "Are you kidding me?! You've spent the entire day fantasizing about this, and suddenly you're not in the mood?"

"I don't feel comfortable having sex with you, Kale. The last time you used it to manipulate me and make me agree to something I didn't want to do."

"That's not fair. You started it; don't get pissed just because I turned the tables on you and beat you at your own game."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "Oh, I'm not angry. Not at all. But until I feel secure with you again, you're not getting any."

I grind my teeth to keep from saying anything, moving instead to lie on the bed face-down. I feel the mattress shift under me as she lies next to me. She doesn't say anything, but her thoughts are screaming and I can't drown them out. Not even words anymore, just lust. I look up and swear.

My wife is lying atop the covers, legs spread and definitely pleasuring herself. Her eyes are shut and she's already breathing quickly.

"_Are you fucking kidding me, Dani?_"

She doesn't look up, doesn't stop, and I stare as she slips a finger inside herself. A moan escapes her lips, and despite my disbelief I can't look away. Her other hand moves up to caress her breasts while the lower one picks up the motion. I watch in silence as Dani brings herself to a silent orgasm, back arched and biting her lip.

She smiles lazily and rolls onto her stomach. "Good night, Kale."

I really hate her.

**_OCTOBER 2541_**

I can't get the sight of her moaning, hands in her panties and on her breasts, out of my head. It's like my brain took a snapshot, framed it, and hung it behind my eyelids. And the worst part is I'm not sure whether I should be pissed, turned on, or both. Right now I'm definitely riding on some weird high that includes both, with just a little bit of lust and satisfaction thrown in there.

Which is why I'm here, back in the New York apartment where we're spending our weekend, letting the scalding water beat down on my skin and, completely obscuring the tiny bathroom with fog. With my hand wrapped deftly around my throbbing cock.

The pounding water beats against my back as I struggle to stay in control, struggle to stay upright and breathe air instead of water. But that image and the sound of her moan are sending me over the edge way too quickly. I fall sideways, the wall catching me as I come. I make a mess all over my hand and the bottom of the tub. Good thing the water is still coming out hot and strong. And then the idea hits me, as I'm watching the pearly strands of my come swirl and disappear down the drain.

I wash myself and the tub before getting out, loose limbed and slightly more in control of what my eyes see when they're closed. Plans for revenge will do that to a person, put them in control.

I wrap a towel around my hips and open the bathroom door; the steam escapes into the bedroom, making it hot and humid. Dani's on the bed, legs crossed and a book open and plastered to her nose. Her nails and toes are painted a bright shade of red as they flex and tap. She's wearing one of my button ups, and the bottom barely covers the apex of her thighs. Her legs are a mile long across the comforter.

I grin.

"Hey, Dani?" she looks up from her novel, tilting her head slightly to the side. The loose tendrils of her hair, the ones not caught up in a haphazard bun on top of her neck, tickle the sides of her necks.

"What's up, Kale?" she says, perfectly calm. I hope she likes the feeling, because it'll be no more than a distant memory once I get started.

"I just wanted to thank you for that show last week," I say, crossing the room, to sit on the bed beside her. "And maybe reciprocate."

I see the moment she realizes I'm about to win this game, and I let my ability roll over her in one languid wave. She's frozen on the bed, limbs given over to my control.

"Kale, Flint, Romanov," The menace in my little wife's voice may have once been enough to quell me, but today… it's just not cutting it.

"Danielle, Maira, Romanov…" I mock, smirking down at her before glancing up. I find a full length mirror on the wall opposite me, and with a flick of my fingers send it spinning to stick against the ceiling.

"I told you I don't want to have sex with you," she breathes. Is that a touch of fear in her voice?

"Yes, I heard that. And noted it. Tonight's just about giving you the type of show you gave me. Tit for tat." She groans, clearly frustrated as she tries to fight against my puppeteers ability; honestly, she'd probably have more luck trying to claw her way through a hundred foot thick steel wall.

I have her set down the novel on the nightstand table and then move to lay on her side, head propped up by her elbow. She looks so damn enticing laying there, my shirt hitched up around her waist and her panties sheer… But tonight's about me, not her.

"Kale, stop it," she hisses, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to turn her head.

I chuckle. "Keep your eyes open, Dani. I wouldn't want you to miss a moment of my gift to you."

And with that, I let the towel around my waist drop and lay down beside her, right on top of the covers like she had done. I'm already hard, and there's a small bead of pre-cum on the very tip of my head. Despite herself, I hear Dani's breath hitch the way it does when she likes something she sees. I smirk to myself.

I stroke myself languidly for a while, ups and downs and taps in just the pattern I like… and then I open my eyes. The mirror is still above me and I can see myself reflected perfectly. I'm completely nude, my dark hair wet and plastered to my face and the pillow. My chest is rising and falling just like my hand on my shaft. I watch, hypnotized as my free hand moves to cup my balls… and then Dani groans, and I groan with her.

"Kale…" she mewls from beside me, eyes wide and tongue darting out to wet her lips.

"Yeah, Dani…" I moan as the tingling starts and my spine goes deliciously tense.

"Let me…" she murmurs. Her eyes are following the motions of my hands and then concentrating on my swollen head. I'm about to come, and I want nothing more than to have those red lips wrapped around my cock when I do… but this is about me. This is about getting back at her for what she did, the way she teased and touched and brought herself to ecstasy without me.

"Just watch," I order, voice going guttural. I'm not sure I can speak anymore. And I continue stroking, palm brushing and nails grazing lightly as I smear the leaking pre-cum up and down my swollen shaft, making it easier to move, easier to pump into my fist.

And just as I think I can't take it anymore, that twinge in my spine explodes and I'm arching up, eyes flying open again as I watch myself in the mirror and stars explode behind my eyes, replacing the photo of Dani with my own pleasure for a moment.

When I come back to myself, my hands and the comforter are covered in come. Dani's breathing is so shallow and erratic I'd think she'd come too if I didn't know better. I can smell her, soaking wet at the sight of me, and the thought makes me want to fuck her right there in the wet spot I made in our bed.

Instead, I say "thanks for watching, Babe," and sit up, releasing her before disappearing into the bathroom to clean up again. Dani's the one left speechless for once, and as I clean myself and think about the way she reacted to my show… I find myself wanting a repeat performance.

Looks like voyeurism is just another thing we can add to our rapidly growing list of kinks. I fucking love my wife.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: These chapters are rated M. If you're not okay with that, turn back now. **

**Also, we're nearing the end of the volume! So after we're done postiong it, there will be a break before we post Volume Five (which is the final volume.)**

**Happy Reading!**

**-- Mel and Chuck**

* * *

**_NOVEMBER 2541_**

It's lunchtime. Normally this means I'd sit in the nearest available seat and start devouring whatever we have served, but not today. I'm on a mission.

Dani and I still haven't resolved our little no-sex thing, and jerking off really isn't cutting it for me. Not that watching and being watched isn't enjoyable, but…masturbation has never been so unsatisfying. It's frustrating, to say the least. But now I've come up with a plan to fix all that, a plan that will either do that or make things worse. I'm willing to take the risk. After all, she started this, and I am just immature enough to make her finish it.

"Hey Afa," I say pleasantly as I sit next to her. She greets me just as Dani sets down her food across the table. My wife's face is suspicious as all hell, and I smirk. She's going to be so mad at me.

"Afa, I just wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to my wife," I start. "She loves having someone besides me to talk to." I look up to see Dani's guarded face: she knows something's up. "I'm not much of a conversationalist, if you know what I mean. I'm more of a nonverbal communicator."

Afa obviously knows that there's been discord between Dani and I; she's pressing her lips together to keep from laughing. Nice to know that she's willing to be a good sport.

"But hey, in the bedroom, I get my point across." I waggle my eyebrows and get mixed reactions. Afa snorts, but Dani's eyes get wide. _STOP IT, KALE._ No can do.

"I mean, she responds to me, so I must be doing something right. Afa, you should hear her. You think she's vocal in public? In private she _screams_ for me." I'm grinning; I can't help it. Dani's face is priceless. My words have shocked her into silence.

"And not just screams. She'll whine and whimper for me, tells me she's desperate to have me inside her. Of course, she'd never tell you that, but I believe in honesty between friends. And between the two of us as a couple?" I tap the side of my head. "No secrets. I gotta tell you, the _images_ in this girl's head. Raunchy. When she's moaning and panting, and arching up like a cat in heat—I bet she could probably get to that place all on her own, with what she sees behind her eyelids. And her mouth—"

"Kale, _shut up_," she hisses, finding her voice finally. I grin like a boy who knows he's in trouble, but I can't stop yet.

"Let's just say Dani's very skilled. It's enough to make a man explode."

She stands, upending her chair. "Outside, _now_."

I turn to Afa courteously. "Care to join us? Our little circus act is almost over." She stands after a moment of hesitation and we walk to the central courtyard.

"Afa, please excuse my jackass of a husband who doesn't know how to act any older than a stupid fourteen-year-old," Dani says hotly.

"It's fine, Dani. It's actually kind of funny," Afa tries to reassure her. She then turns to me, a smile threatening. "But maybe you shouldn't push her so far, Kale."

Dani swipes at a furious tear. "I'm so sorry Afa."

Her friend rubs her arm. "It's okay. I won't even remember this conversation in a few minutes."

Smart girl. She turns to me and closes her eyes, waiting. I place my hand gently over her eyes and pull her memories of the last couple of minutes. She opens her eyes again, looking a tad disoriented. I point her in the direction of her tent and watch her go. I think I'm going to like her a lot.

I turn back, only to see Dani stomping off to our own tent. I roll my eyes and follow her. Time to see if my gamble worked.

"I cannot fucking believe you," is the greeting I get. "You asshole!"

"She doesn't remember it!" I protest. "What's the big deal?"

"What did you think you were going to accomplish with that stunt?" She shoves me as hard as she can. "Did you think you were _funny_?"

"Afa did," I reply with a smirk.

She shrieks and smacks me full across the face. "I hate you!"

I grab her wrists then and she kicks me in the shins. I trip and we land on the ground, me on top of her. Her mind flashes a vivid image to mine: the two of us lying in the road in the sun, years ago. She was mad at me then, too. I remember all this with a vicious grin and force my mouth onto hers, grinding my hips against hers. She makes a noise between a moan and a growl and pushes back.

"How is this going to make anything you've done better?" she groans into my neck.

"I haven't done anything that you wouldn't have," I whisper breathlessly, "I've just been more creative."

"You're such a dick," as her hands yank up my shirt and attempt to pull it over my head.

I grin as that fact is made quite obvious. "Please, Dani," I breathe, kissing her once chastely. "Please will you stop being mad at me so I can remind you why you like me so much?" I thrust against her, in case she's forgotten.

She gasps before answering me, "Okay. Hurry before I change my mind." I don't really need any more encouragement than that. Our clothes are off in seconds, and my hand traces down her hip to the blonde curls between her thighs. My fingers find her clitoris and she cries out wordlessly. Oh, I've missed that. God, she's wet, and so tight that I could just kiss her. I'd like to be able to draw this out, to give her the kind of foreplay that will have her begging for the main event, but I've been denied this for way too long. _I'll make up for it later_, I think as I sink into her, feeling her muscles tense involuntarily around me.

She arches up to meet me as she comes, her breasts pressing to my chest. She quivers as I empty myself inside her. We rest against each other on the carpet, panting as though we've run a race.

"I really like you a lot," she manages between breaths. I smile and pull her closer to me. When we finally get up, we throw clothes on just in time to hear someone call from outside our tent, "Sir? There's someone here to see you."

I step into the afternoon light to see Morgana waiting with Mrs. Gray. The eternally youthful woman looks up and smiles, but there is worry in her eyes.

"How did you get here?" I ask with confusion, forgetting my manners. "_Why_ are you here?"

"My daughter and my son-in-law used to work for an agency," she starts, "It wasn't that hard to hire someone to fly me here."

"Is he still here?" I ask with concern. The location of the camp isn't supposed to be public knowledge.

"No. And Kale," she adds with gentle rebuke, "you had a map at the apartment. You shouldn't leave such things lying around."

"Mama, you broke into my house?" Dani comes up to join the conversation. "What the hell?"

"Everyone has been here but me," Mrs. Gray says casually, "I thought I'd come see it for myself." Too bad her emotions aren't as calm as her words. Under her easy demeanor is a mild current of hurt, worry, and isolation. "Where's your father, by the way?"

"Mr. Gray hasn't been here for a while," I tell her. "He's been at the other camps, training the other soldiers." If I weren't watching for it, I wouldn't see the way her face falls for a millisecond before the mask goes back up.

"He failed to mention that," she says coolly. _That bastard…I must look so stupid right now, don't even know where my husband is…_

I wince for her. I understand why Mr. Gray handles things the way he does, but it can't be easy for his wife. The three of us make our way over to the dining area, making small talk as we go. I eat dinner while trying to ignore Mrs. Gray's thoughts and give her privacy. When we leave dinner we see Mr. Gray standing alone in the courtyard. He waits until we reach him to speak, assessing his wife coldly.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I came for a visit," she says, raising her chin in a gesture of defiance.

"I don't recall giving you permission to leave Manhattan." His words are icy and drip with an arrogant ownership, one that he means to convey to her.

"We'll be leaving now," he tells her after a moment of tense silence. Turning to me, he says, "Kale, I'll be back tomorrow. But the troops are ready. It's time for you to take them out."

_**A couple days later…**_

Mr. Gray never came back like he said he was going to, and Dani's getting a little worried. I can't say that I blame her as her father has always been unfailingly punctual… but the thought o just showing up at her parent's house like she wants me to do terrifies me. Still, Mr. Gray did tell me the troops were ready, and unless I get the plan of attack for the continent, I won't be able to move forward…

And that's why I'm here, trembling in the November chill on my in-law's door step and wishing someone would just come to the door and answer my knock. I'm shifting from foot to foot, hands in my jacket pockets as my breath puffs bright white into the air. And despite the chill, there's something slippery beneath my feet. I look down and smell it instantly. It's coppery and dark red against the concrete stoop, a trickle of blood that's seeping from under the door and pooling at my feet.

My heart jumps to my throat and my eyes widen at the sight. Jesus, this can't be good. I panic, reach for the door handle. It's locked but I make easy enough work of that, ripping it completely off and kicking the door forward. The solid metal door lands with a thud and a resounding ring in a pool of congealing blood.

I don't know what I was expecting, but the scene in front of me was most definitely not it.

Mrs. Gray is completely naked and suspended in the middle of the room by chains attached to two hooks in the ceiling. Her blonde hair is braided and bound up into a bun on top of her head… and her back is a mess of red meat, hanging flesh, and exposed spine. I guess I know now where the blood was coming from.

In front of her, facing me is Mr. Gray. His hands are wrapped around her ass, holding her up and taking some of the strain off of her shoulders. His lips are buried against her neck and his face is flecked with the same blood pooling on the floor. Beneath her spread thighs, his legs are slightly bent and his feet flat in the blood, moving and making the stuff lap at the sides of his feet. And he's clearly inside of her.

I shiver when I see it. It's terrifying, the two people who practically raised me standing there in a pool of blood, my almost mother clearly in agony and my maybe father enjoying every second of it. I've known before this that their tastes ran towards the strange and sometimes sickening, but seeing it with my own eyes… it's at once horrifying and erotic. The look on Mr. Gray's face… he's biting his lip and his eyes are tightly shut and he's straining up and into his wife as if whatever he's missing is buried between her legs. And despite the pain and the cries, Mrs. Gray is tensing the way Dani does right before she comes.

When the pair orgasms, I know it. I don't know how long I've been standing there watching him drive into her, watching him punish and please her, but it's been long enough that Mr. Gray throws his head back and groans long and low as Mrs. Gray shivers, toes curling behind his calves as her back finally heals and she sobs just once. I don't know why I hadn't noticed before then that she wasn't healing… but Mr. Gray does have that ability, the one he calls "the Haitians."

He spots me before I have time to come back to my senses, and before I know it I'm frozen to the spot. The blood has coated the bottom of my shoes and soaked through the sides. Looking into his eyes, I'm not sure what the emotion I see is. My mentor has always been unreadable like that.

Oddly enough, Mrs. Gray is the first one to speak. She's still naked, still coated in blood, still twirling on those dangling chains as her toes just barely brush the floor. I can't help but notice the way her breasts rise and swell beneath the red, red blood. I'm not sure whether to appreciate the view or shirk from it. Either way, I'm painfully aware that the woman in front of me practically raised me… and equally as aware that on some level the tableaux I watched pleased me. I'm sporting an embarrassing hard on that makes me wish I could sink through the floor.

"Kale, I'm afraid we're busy right now," she says softly, green eyes meeting mine unashamedly. "You should probably wait in the other room."

I probably look like a frightened child, standing there glancing frantically from Mr. Gray to his wife and back. My father-in-law seems to consider his options for a moment before nodding releasing me from his strings.

"Go wait in the kitchen," he orders, turning his back on me to focus his attention on his wife again.

"Yes, Mr. Gray," I say. On my way out I nod to the woman, still suspended and slowly spinning. "Mrs. Gray," I say softly.

She chuckles, letting her head fall back and her breasts shake.

"I think you can call me Claire now, Kale."

I only nod, too unsure to speak, and then rush into the kitchen where I throw up loudly in the sink.

Mr. Gray doesn't come and get me for another hour, and the sounds coming from the living room let me know he was in no rush.

**_DECEMBER 2541_**

Over the last month, the other troops from around the country have come pouring in. Our little camp has swelled to accommodate the full 2000 soldiers, and tonight I'm addressing them as their…well, their leader, sort of. I felt sort of sick thinking about it earlier, but I can do this. I was born to do this. As I float a few feet in the air, so they can all see me, I feel a swelling sense of pride and the adrenaline that rushes through me every time I think of what the coming months and years hold for us.

"Everyone," my voice rings out clearly in the crisp air, "we've been waiting for this for a long time. Tomorrow you are beginning the most important event of your lives: taking part in this revolutionary change to the world order." I can hear Dani's thought's as I speak: _Don't overdo it Kale…get to the point. _I grin inwardly and continue.

"I am Kale Romanov, your immediate commanding officer. I am Sylar's second and expect to be accorded the appropriate respect." God, that feels weird. Not the idea of respect and control—that should be a given. But calling Mr. Gray by that name is so unsettling. I've only ever 'heard' his wife call him that—and never in the context of deference or admiration. He insisted on it, though, so I guess I'll get used to it.

"Sylar will be with us from time to time, but he does have other things to attend to, so for the most part you will be solely under my direction.

"Now, concerning our plan for the continent: I have mapped out the major cities with the largest populations. We will go from city to city, taking down any governments that have been established and installing local leaders that are loyal to Sylar." At this mention of his name, a few cries are raised in support.

"Sylar!"

"President!"

"King!"

"Tyrant!"

The last word echoes and everyone falls silent. My gaze zeroes in on the guilty man. He glares defiantly at me, radiating anger.

"Excuse me," I say quietly, my voice icier than air around us, "You were insubordinate just now. Not only that, your statement was false. Your commander is not a tyrant."

"Like hell he's not! He's amassed an army to go through the continent to destroy any semblance of order so that he can have the whole world to his liking." The man's suicidal boldness has almost taken me aback, but he's not finished. "And it will never even work," he sneers. "Your Sylar is a fool."

I allow no emotion to register on my face as I raise a small rock, no larger than the first joint of my finger, to levitate before me. A single movement and the man collapses, bleeding from the fatal wound in his forehead. I look down to see the others edging away from him, looking back to me with fear in their eyes.

"Troops," I continue, keeping my voice steady, "we will not be slaughterers of innocents. If they are not in our way and unopposed to our cause, there is no need for death. The problem arises"—and here I raise my voice just a little—"when people think that they know better than Sylar, and look to cause trouble.

"Our world now is like a broken bone. It has been set wrong, and it can never heal properly the way things are. In order to set things right, we may have to break some things down again so they can be rebuilt.

"Where were you all, just a few years ago? Starving? Begging? Stealing and scavenging for the barest of survival. Under Sylar's rule, there won't be any need for that. Efficiency will go up. The orphanages will be gone.

"You can have the life you deserve! Together we can bring about a better world, the kind that our ancestors took for granted. It's ours." My voice drops to almost a whisper. "Under Sylar's rule, it's ours for the taking."

The soldiers explode into wild cheers and applause at this. All I can do is smile as I float back to the ground beside Dani.

"Kale, was all that really necessary?" she says in my ear, "It seemed a little grandiose."

"They're ready now. They're unified and excited, and that's good," I tell her, my arm curling around her waist. Her blue eyes search mine for a minute before she smiles and rests her head on my shoulder.

"And what are you doing with him?" She nods toward the cooling body on the ground.

I sent him flying with a wave of my hand into the pit where we dumped out garbage. That's all he was anyway.

"And what about that?" Dani presses the issue. "Was murdering that guy a good thing, too?"

I turn to her, my face serious. "Dani, he called your dad a dictator and an idiot."

"Daddy's not even here, and he's tough. He can deal with it."

I love her, I really do, but sometimes she doesn't get the important stuff. "That guy was supposed to be a soldier in your dad's army. Rebellion is not an option, especially not so early in our campaign. These people need to be totally committed to me, your dad, and this goal. Now they know how serious this is."

"You could have done it later," she says petulantly. "Now the new people will think you're a big touchy jerk."

"Your father would have made him scream while everyone watched him suffer. I think I'll sleep fine tonight." On that note, I leave her and gather the soldiers with super-speed and flight capabilities to me.

"At dawn, I want you to go ahead up to Winnipeg to scout out the situation up there, get a feel for what we're getting into. You will report back to me every few hours. The rest of the group will be inside the train; I'll be flying nearby, so you shouldn't have any problems getting in touch with me. If a situation gets violent or people get suspicious, get out of there and come directly to me. I'd like to keep things as peaceful as possible."

Tomorrow's going to be a big day.

**_The Next Week_**

I'm sitting in a very uncomfortable chair at a cramped little table in Northern Winnipeg. Its fucking freezing even in doors, and my toes feel like they're missing. It's a damn shame the scouts I sent out an hour ago haven't returned with the supplies yet. Having a firestarter around doesn't do any good when the only thing to burn is your shelter.

I tap my fingers impatiently and look out across the room. It's filled with troops and citizens alike, laughing and shivering together.

The ease with which we took the northern half of the continent is almost disappointing. Almost. I have to remind myself that the reason we trained for so long, spent so many long days and weeks perfecting skills and stratagem, was so that we could achieve a takeover without mass bloodshed and resentments. Mr. Gray-- Sylar, had assured me that this was the best way. We didn't just want to run things, we wanted the people to love us.

And I'll be damned if they don't.

We rolled into each of the major cities without any sort of resistance. The most we received was curious glances and a few bold glares for sending people home from the market early in order to establish ourselves in prominent and permanent locals. There had been only a few deaths, two of which had been accidental. A few soldiers had been a bit trigger happy with their powers… obviously they couldn't be allowed to live. We had executed them publicly and offered reparations to the families of the dead. That was Dani's idea. Apparently, she's more publicly minded than either her father or I, because the people seemed pleased and fascinated with the pale haired daughter of their new leader.

Over all, the resounding sentiment at our establishment within the sparsely populated cities has been, astoundingly… relief. I don't know if it's because the north is less dense population wise and more in need of a supporting government, but I'm glad for the lack of resistance. It just blows that the easy acquiescence will, in all likelihood, disappear once we head south.

The southerners have already proven to be more rebellious and less likely to go along with our plan. There are more of them, for one, and for two, they've established a sort of rudimentary nationalism. They've got currency already that's recognized throughout most of the southwest as well as a group of citizens called "The Pacific-25" who are in charge of judgment and sentencing of criminals. It's a strange and somewhat archaic system, as there aren't actually any clear cut laws… but the south has developed a few unwritten rules they seem to adhere to. No murder, no thievery, and no sexual assault. Sylar likes to compare them to the "Old West," whatever that is. I just compare them to a pain in my ass, because I can already tell that's what they're going to be at the beginning of January when we make the trip to see them.

A hoot and a holler at the other end of the warehouse calls my attention. The scouts have returned with supplies and everyone is cheering. I cringe momentarily at the loud burst of noise before rising and motioning for the wood to be brought forward and lit. At my side, Dani sighs in boredom, watching disinterestedly as the people all around her smile and laugh excitedly.

It's amazing how out of place she looks here, gold hair flowing down past her bottom and tight red sheathe dress showing off mile long legs. The other women in the room are all bundled up; the only skin they're showing is on their faces. They're not particularly feminine women to start with, how can they be when the only people here are people who, like the original soldiers, want to take part in the formation of government and order in their city? I'm not saying women aren't smart and capable of taking the lead, I'm married to Sylar's daughter for fucks sake, but up here in the north, where protection of the family is a constant duty… let's just say women's rights have regressed since my mentor's time, and he's not particularly sad about it. My father in law seems to view the reverse suffrage with amusement. I'm not exactly sure whether he's planning to change it, but from what Dani says, I'd be willing to bet if he isn't already planning it, she'll convince him within the month.

"Mr. Romanov, Sir!" I glance sharply from Dani to the man in front of me.

"Yes, Jax?" Jax is the man who will be in charge of this area when I move on, he is my direct subordinate and the one soldier I have the most confidence in. When people have questions or concerns, they go to Jax, who then comes to me. He's a puppeteer, which makes him powerful and scary as hell to the average soldier. There's something about knowing your commanding officer could make you use that telekinesis of yours to lift a giant boulder and drop it on your own head that makes you want respect the man.

"It's the orphanage, Sir," that's another thing I like about Jax. He's a no nonsense type of guy who likes cutting to the chase as quickly as possible. Maybe it's because of the red hair. "The guards there are refusing to leave their posts."

I raise a brow. Now this is interesting. Just when I start to get comfortable with the whole 'peaceful takeover' thing, some ass hole orphan catchers have to give me shit. I'm about to respond, tell Jax to take them all out and parade them by the other orphanages as examples when Dani speaks behind me.

She's standing now, Shiny black stilettos making her even taller than she normally is and one hand on her hip.

"I'd like to have a word with them," she says softly, almost demurely. The entire warehouse goes a little hushed as if they're waiting for me to answer.

_I only want to talk to them. And when I'm done you can make examples of the fuckers. _She thinks softly, just like she's speaking. In her head I see images of starving orphans and a little blonde baby with a gold bracelet. I wonder for a moment what it's all about before deciding I can ask later and nodding my assent. After all, Dani's the princess here, quite literally, and if I don't help her at least make an example that women too are capable of leadership... let's just say she's not afraid to serve up another freezing plate of blue-balls.

"Alright," I breathe, "Jax, you stay here. Dani, Gustav, Richter, Afa… with me." The people in the warehouse seem to let out a collective sigh as I leave the table in the center and head out to take care of the orphanage guards with my indestructible wife, her freezing friend, a speedster, and an earth mover.

Looks like I'm going to get a bit of the action I was just mourning. Maybe next time I'll be more careful with my thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Happy volume ending! Thanks for reading. **

**-- Mel and Chuck**

* * *

_**The next day…**_

I'm irritated as hell.

What should have been a journey of an hour or two on foot to the orphanage turned into a complete fuck-up. It had been snowing when we left and within minutes it became a full-scale white-out, so we went back to wait it out. It finally slowed down, but by then it was dark and the members of my taskforce bitched about it until I said we could visit the orphanage in the morning. All of this has only served to remind me why these people need to be ruled: they're too fucking stupid to govern themselves.

Dani told me last night to stop being 'fussy'. I told her that if she wanted to come with me to the orphanage, she would leave me alone until the morning. She wasn't pleased, obviously—I think the words she used were "touchy, arrogant, over-demanding asshole"—but her thoughts have been focused more on the image of the blonde infant than on anything I say or do.

The five of us now stand a thousand feet away from the outer wall of the orphanage. There are guards posted along the wall, as well as one at the gate. I don't know how many are inside. I'm all for going in guns blazing, but Dani's insisted that she wants to talk to them.

We approach the front gate, where Dani bumps me to one side.

"Hi," she starts, "I'd like to talk to your supervisor. Is he busy?" The guard's face is blank as he works to understand her unusual request, and then breaks into a leer.

"Sure thing, honey. You just have to work out some kind of payment with me first. A toll, see?" He licks his lips greedily, in case she somehow didn't catch his meaning.

"You're gross," she comments matter-of-factly. "But I still need to talk to your boss, so what I'm going to do now is introduce you to my husband. And then you're going to let us in."

His small mind is easy to manipulate, and before we know it, he's smiling like an idiot and taking us to the head guard. We find ourselves in a cramped office with a man who looks no older than Mr. Gray does. His hair is cut close to his scalp and he rubs a hand across the top of his head from time to time.

"Are you with that Jax guy?" he asks without introduction.

"No," I answer firmly, "Jax is my second. He tells me you and your guards won't leave, and I just thought we'd come over to talk about it."

He sneers at that. "Nothing to talk about. We aren't leaving, and I think it's time you did."

"Excuse me," Dani interrupts, "I just wanted to ask you a few things before we get out of your hair."

He grunts and shoulders past us, calling back for us to follow. We do, my wife trotting to catch up to him. He leads us out of the building to a large expanse of snow and rocks that serves as a sort of yard. There are small shelters scattered in this bleak courtyard. The air here smells of waste and rot and fear.

"Sir, are you married? Do you have children?" my wife asks boldly.

"No and no," he says.

"Why are you doing this?"

He stops and looks at her face, his voice low. "Doing what, exactly?"

Dani's eyes are starting to tear up. "Keeping these children here without providing them with love or adequate shelter and food. You're hurting them." Her mind is back to the tiny infant girl with the bracelet—only this time the child is filthy and squalling, alone. She's rapidly losing her cool.

His eyes are deadly serious as he answers her, "I like my job, and I'm good at it. These orphans" –his arm reaches out and snags a young boy who can't be more than eleven—"they're worthless." He shoves the boy away, sending a kick after him.

Dani's mind is reeling and confused. She is shocked by this man's cavalier cruelty. It's time for me to step in. "If you and your men don't leave immediately, we'll be forced to take action here."

The head guard's smile is unnerving, to say the least. "There are only five of you, buddy. Take all the action you want." With those words, we find ourselves in the middle of a full-scale battle, and suddenly I'm getting fleeting thoughts and images so quickly that it's hard to tell which are mine.

I snap a man's neck as I see another raise two huge boulders into the air using only telekinesis, and hurl them Richter's way. Of course, my earthmover laughs and stops the rocks in midair, sending them back the way they came. Richter's attacker is crushed under his own missiles.

I turn to see Gustav moving slowly toward another guard. Much too slowly. What the hell?

_He won't even see me coming…_ He thinks he's moving at full speed. Holy shit.

"Gus, move!" I shout too late. His opponent has confused his senses, and makes short work of him. I slit the bastard's throat before turning to kill the man who just stuck a knife in my back. There are children running around screaming as huts go up in flames, and I can't keep track of anything. Then I see something that makes my heart freeze and my stomach plummet.

It's Dani, lying in the snow with a branch protruding from the back of her head, blood everywhere. Not moving. Not healing.

"No!" I roar, throwing a man twenty feet out of my way to get to her. I drop to my knees at her side and pull the branch from her skull. Heal. _Heal, dammit._

"Nonononono…" I barely recognize the frantic voice as my own. But she isn't moving. There is someone hacking at my back and shoulders with what feels like a machete, and I hurl them away from me.

"Shit, Dani, please move!" I beg. I rock back and forth, holding her to my chest. _Don't be dead. Don't be dead._ My silent pleas are interrupted by a shrill scream. Almost against my will, I look up to see….Dani. My wife is sitting in the snow with tears on her cheeks, sobbing her heart out.

What the fuck? I look down and I see the body in my arms, but Dani's also over there. What is going on?

"Kale!" Afa's now standing above a frozen body, and the image of the woman in my arms disappears. "A nightmare-man," she says helpfully as I clamber to my feet. I look across to see my wife's white face fill with relief at the sight of me, not dead.

I reassess the situation. There's still chaos and juvenile screaming everywhere. Shit. I've fucked this up so badly. We have to finish this, and fast. But there's so much going on I can barely concentrate. It's like I've gone into shock; I don't know what to do.

I see one guard inhale deeply and grin, then reach for Richter and literally tear him into pieces. Jesus Christ.

As quickly as this started, I can feel it slowing down now. Behind me there are men running as fast as they can to get the hell out of here. There aren't too many guards left, but there are only three of us now.

I reach the man who killed Richter, who tries to end me by throwing pieces of the broken wall at me. If I get distracted for a second, I have no doubt he'll dispatch me the way he did my earthmover, and I'm not entirely sure if I can come back from that.

Finally—I don't know how much later—I breathe a sigh; my opponent is dead, and I turn to locate the women. It's only then that I realize that Dani is screaming.

"You fucking bastard!" She has no weapons, no strategy, only her hand-to-hand skills and her fury. Her opponent is a partial empath—he can't tell what others have, so when he chooses to give up one power for another, it's always a gamble. If he were smart, he'd give up what he has and take from Dani. He's currently using Afa's power, and the irony is sickening. Once again, my wife is fighting someone who can freeze chunks of her with every blow she takes. Only this time, Afa's lying on the ground, the gaping hole in her stomach pouring blood onto the surrounding snow. The pistol is lying next to her and that is what the empath is trying to grab, if he could only get past Dani.

Just like before, I step into the middle of the fight, throwing the empath down and holding him fast. If she wants him, she can have him. She looks away, though, to stare at Afa's motionless form. "Oh Afa," she whispers, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you." She turns back to the man on the ground, savagely kicking him in the face. She continues to cry as she brings her boot down on his head again and again, finally reaching for the pistol and emptying it into him. Then Dani collapses, and the only thing I can do is hold her against me as she sobs.

This is all my fault. I should have been faster, stronger. I should have planned this better. God, how could this happen? We shake violently, from cold and shock, and eventually I see the dirty faces of children peek out at the carnage. The mission isn't finished, but we don't move for hours.

_**Five Days Later**_

The spectacular cluster-fuck that was supposed to have been just another easy takeover, ended in disaster. I lost three valuable soldiers and Dani lost—Christ. Dani lost her only friend. We've both been going over and over it again in our heads since it happened five days ago.

_--Shouldn't have insisted on going. I'm so stupid. It's my fault she's dead. What did I think I was going to accomplish? God, I wish I was dead instead. Why aren't I dead? Fuck. All my fault._

I squeeze Dani's hand where she stands beside me, dressed in a pair of black jeans and a somber coat. She's wearing sensible shoes today and her hair is braided tightly behind her. Her nose has turned pink in the cold and I can see half frozen tears on her lovely cheeks.

Flames roar in front of us atop a pyre. There are three of them in a row. We're standing in front of Afa's. Although it's not really Afa anymore. The frozen girl is gone. All that's burning now is wood and dead flesh. I don't think I'll ever be able to get the smell out of my head.

Because really, it's my fault. No matter how much my wife blames herself or how many ways she tries to twist it, it will always be my fault. I could have been more cautious. _Should _have struck quickly and without warning. I most definitely shouldn't have underestimated the guards. God. I'd gotten cocky and now three people are dead.

The bodies take too long to burn as the crowd holds vigil, and when they have turned to ash, I step up to speak.

A hand on my shoulder stops me. Sylar catches my eye before taking my place in front of the people.

I don't hear most of what he says. Al I catch are random, meaningless phrases like, "Life is too short," "Now is the time," and "Resistance leads to loss." I know he's using these deaths politically. The people were horrified at the bloodshed at the orphanage. Sylar had even brought the parentless children to the funeral, thin and sickly, to illustrate the 'evil' we had fought. Of course its all bull shit for him. He doesn't believe in good and evil, but he wasn't once the leader of the free world for nothing. He knows how to buy, cheat, and steal the hearts of men.

I don't know how long he speaks, but when he's done, people are cheering. The mass disperses quickly, orphans disappearing with appointed care takers who will be monitored by Jax's people once I leave. All but the one.

It's a little thing. Shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes. It's ridiculously thin and the clothes it's wearing are far too large.

_Dani was sobbing. Afa was cold in the snow; colder than she'd ever been before. Blood pooled against the white, melting and mixing until we were surrounded by an eerie pink sludge. We stayed there for minutes maybe, crying and holding each other and swearing. It wasn't until someone coughed that we were pulled out of our grief for an instant. _

_They were watching us. Pale and pinched and starving. Wide eyes as they hid behind bigger kids and crates and bodies. A few of them were crying quietly, tears making tracks down dirty cheeks. The rest were trying to become invisible as we watched. One even managed to achieve it, disappearing and leaving only a set of footprints where he stood. The rest just stared. _

_The cough came again. It was one of the smaller ones. He was maybe six, emaciated, and bleeding out of the gash in his stomach. _

_Dani let out a strangled moan and the boy continued watching us, wide eyed through the pain. In that moment, it was as if something that had been broken inside of her fixed itself. I shouldn't have been surprised, my wife was after all invincible, but the resolve I saw form behind those tear filled blue eyes shook me to the core. _

_"All of you," she'd ordered, voice kind but firm, "we're going to leave here and get you something to eat." She had risen then, hands stained with the same blood I knelt in. "If you are an older child, grab a younger child's hand and make sure you stick together. It's a bit of a walk." She crossed to the bleeding boy then, lifting him in her arms and wincing as he groaned and cried. He'd been hurt in the fight. Had I done that?_

_The children were used to taking orders. It didn't take much for Dani to have the kids wrapped in the only blankets available (the guards') and ready to leave, including the three young girls she'd found huddled in a filthy mass between the guards' bed sheets. _

_I flew ahead and brought people back to carry the children who had no older child to help them or who were too weak to walk. All the while, I couldn't get Dani to hand over the wounded boy. She carried him all the way back to camp, silent, almost unnoticeable tears trailing down her beautiful face as she walked through the snow._

Since that night, Dani hasn't let the child out of her side. She tended him herself after the doctor saw him, even donated her blood to heal him when her father arrived and told her it was possible. He's been sleeping fitfully in our tent each night and Dani's been calming him when he wakes up to nightmares. Seeing her that way, brushing dull, ragged brown hair off of his forehead… I can't tell whether it's motherly instinct or grief that's driving her. She couldn't save Afa. I couldn't save Afa. And now Dani's making it her mission to save the child.

I haven't brought up the future with her: how long he'll be staying, what he'll wear, what will happen when we leave this place. I think I'm afraid to break the little bit of peace she finds looking over him. But the consequences of bringing someone else into our family, a mortal child no less, they're looming there right beyond speech.

I come back to myself and we are the only ones left; Dani, the boy, Sylar and I. The rest of the people who knew the dead soldiers have left to grieve in silence as custom dictates. They will not speak again until the morning, and neither will we.

Sylar nods to me stiffly and hugs his daughter, face blank before taking to the sky. Dani watches the dying fire for a bit longer before turning and grabbing first my hand and then the child's. We move away without speaking and I can hear their thoughts with each step.

_Keep moving, Dani. Move. God. Afa. Oh God. Move. Left, right, left, right. _

And from the child: _-- warm hand. Soft. Like that one time the big kid—soft. Hungry. Not hungry? Stomach feels weird. What is it? Lady crying. Like Gottie when the mean man came and took her to a bed. _

I listen to his mind race. He doesn't know I can hear, and he hasn't spoken since we took him from the camp. From what I've heard I gather he hasn't spoken since he arrived at the camp four months earlier. We don't even know his name and the only reason we know his ability is because he accidently set his blanket on fire the first night we had him.

We reach the tent and feed the boy silently, solemnly. Dani has to leave half way through the meal because she doesn't want to cry at the little table. I put him to bed alone, suggesting quietly in his head that he's tired and needs to go to sleep now. I follow my own advice soon after, finding Dani between our sheets as the boy breaths steadily on the other side of the tent.

We keep the silence as we hold each other. Between quiet sobs she kisses me.

_I love you. I love you so much. Kale. Please. Make love to me. Make me forget it hurts. _

I oblige, tenderly moving beneath the blankets and stroking and kissing until all she's thinking about is what's surrounding her in the moment. I stifle her moans with my lips and we cry together as we come, tears and sweat mingling with our breaths.

**_JANUARY 2542_**

Since the orphanage, it seems like we've been moving in slow motion. We didn't linger in Winnipeg for long after the funeral--we still have to deal with the rest of the continent, in spite of the grief. But moving...it helped, I think. Coming farther south took us away from the constant reminders of what happened up north. Well. Almost all of the reminders.

An unintelligible shriek tears from Mik's lips as he pulls away from Dani and runs a few feet away, his hands spontaneously lighting up. Dani growls in frustration as she stalks toward him menacingly. As far as I can tell, she's trying to clean him up before bed, but the little kid seems to like the mud he's smeared all over himself. He holds the fire in his hands before him like a shield, not realizing that Dani's going to go right through it.

"Dammit, Mik," she grumbles, ignoring the flames as she lifts him bodily and dumps him in the tub. The woman who used to own this house is dead now, a member of the violent faction that was opposed to our takeover. It's been nice, having an actual house to stay in when we're not restructuring the society here. But we'll be leaving soon, moving on to the next city. My thoughts are interrupted by another howl.

"I don't think he ever bathed before he came with us," Dani says as she scrubs his brown hair with soap. He wriggles in protest, speaking volumes about his opinion of baths without saying a word.

The little orphan still doesn't talk much. He makes noises that are pretty easy to interpret, and will occasionally pipe up in one-word sentences, but that's about it. It doesn't bother me—I can hear everything he's thinking anyway, but it gets on Dani's nerves, since she can't always tell if he understands her.

She lifts him from the tub and towels him off before he makes a break for the front door, wanting to be back outside. I grab Mik's arm before he can reach his goal and swing him up into my arms.

"Clothes, Mik," I tell him as he ceases his gibberish sounds. I think he might be afraid of me. Not that I've ever done anything to him—he's six, for God's sake—but I'm an adult male, and therefore too similar to the prison guards he learned to fear. Dani's a more unfamiliar authority figure; he trusts her more, but also tests her limits pretty much all the time.

I hand the naked child to my wife, who sighs and dresses him for bed, tucking him in and kissing his forehead. "Good night, Mik. That means you have to stay in bed and go to sleep." His pout suggests that this idea might be too optimistic tonight. A quiet thought from me and he's out.

_He's so sweet when he's like this_, Dani thinks. _Adorable and quiet._

Shit. I put this talk off for too long already, out of respect for her emotional state, but this is getting out of hand.

"Dani, can we talk in the kitchen?" I request quietly. Her face is empty of suspicion, a light smile on her lips. That's going to make this so much worse.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asks as we sit at the table. I rub my face with an open hand. Normally I'd just dive in, but that probably isn't the best approach for this.

"Mik's a lot of work. I can see that. He's wearing you out."

She shakes her head reluctantly. "No. I mean, yes, he's more than I'm used to, but it's nothing I can't handle." She looks up at me, her face unsure. "I'm doing fine. He's safe. And happy."

"Of course he is," I tell her soothingly. "You're doing a great job. But is it a job that you want to be doing for the next ten or twelve years?"

_Oh God, no_. "He won't always be six," she hedges. "He'll grow up, and then things will get a little less hectic."

"Are you kidding? Dani, do you remember what you were like at eleven? Seventeen? There will always be something going on with him. Raising Mik isn't going to get easier just because he grows older." She's looking down at her knees, lips pressed together. I give her a second before I go on.

"Baby," I lift her face so I can look her in the eyes, "Mik's going to grow old. Do you really want to watch that?" I feel like a total asshole, saying these things to her. But I know she doesn't really want to be a mother yet, and I know she's using Mik as a way to forget everything else that happened at the orphanage.

Dani shakes her head slowly, the first tear coursing down her cheek. "He's going to die," she whispers miserably. "He's going to die no matter what I do." I can't stand to see her sitting there looking so forlorn, so I pull her into my lap and rub her back.

"You saved his life, Dani. You saved him from that place and from dying that day. But he won't live forever."

"I know," she sniffles. The small room is almost silent before I continue speaking.

"There's a couple here in the city who have said that they would like to take him when we leave. They don't have any other children, but they want to. They could be his family."

The blonde head resting on my shoulder shakes hysterically. "I don't want to give him up."

"Baby, you can't make Afa's death go away by taking care of Mik. What happened up north was not your fault." I swallow hard. "It was mine, Dani. You can't make this kid penance for something you didn't do."

She cries harder. "I don't want to be his mother." Her words are interrupted by a stray hiccup. "But I would feel awful pushing him off on someone else. He'd hate me."

"He won't hate you. He doesn't even have to remember you at all." Her sobs quiet as she contemplates all this.

"We're leaving in a few days, then?" I nod. "And they want him—he'll be happy?" Another nod.

"Okay." She clings to me and starts to weep again. "I just miss her so much."

**_APRIL 2542_**

Mexico is hot, but peaceable. We've been in the area for a little over a week and already the locals have begun to adopt the societal changes we've made; after all, it's not like they had much in the way of a government set up anyway. The southerners had always been more local, more superstitious, and more likely to follow religious leaders and shamans than they were to follow a political one. And so, when Sylar had shown up with a display of power so awesome even the most powerful of the natives were cowering, and a few words about God and godhood in general, he had won their hearts.

So for once, we have nothing to do.

We're living in what can only be described as a mansion. As I understand it, one of the most prosperous locals had volunteered it after a few suggestive comments from my men, so Dani and I inhabit the second floor now with its three baths, six bedrooms, kitchen, and library. Twelve soldiers live raucously on the floor beneath us.

Still, even surrounded by splendor, I can't seem to bring Dani out of her slump.

Ever since we left Mik and Afa behind us, she's been quiet. It's as if someone went in with a snuffer and put out the Dani light, the one that made her selfish and petulant and radiant and the woman I fell in love with. And I'm trying, God knows I'm trying, but some days I feel so goddamned hopeless I want to run into the street and scream, or shake her until her teeth rattle and something dislodges inside of her and falls back into place and she's who she was before.

But I'm trying to be patient, because Mr. Gray told me that was what had worked for him, and because I love Dani more than I love myself, and if she needs to be sad for a while, I can deal with it.

Still, that doesn't mean I can't try to help. That's why I'm here tonight, lighting candles and searing meat on a stove, dressed in nothing but a ridiculously frilly apron and waiting for Dani to get back from the local orphanage where she's been playing with the local children all day.

I hear some men shouting bellow. Someone whistles (must be Dunbar, I'll have to remember to punish him later) and Dani's high heels click on the hardwood of the stairs. I can imagine her more conservative knee length skirt hugging her ass and every pair of eyes in the room watching as she ascends. Assholes.

I feel a momentary flutter of panic in the pit of my stomach as the door to our floor is opened and her heels echo across the floor. I've never done anything like this before. It's really more Dani's forte, I only ever considered it because she did it once and I thought the memory might make her smile.

I set the last utensil on the table and glance over at one of the mirrors in the room, running a finger through my hair to make sure it's not out of place before I panic for a second wondering what I should do and then make the hasty decision to just lean against the counter and hope to God she doesn't think I'm some sort of god-damned fruitcake because of this, although even if she did it would be an excellent excuse to prove to her in numerous positions and locals that I'm not.

She comes through the kitchen door, head hung wearily and shaking her blonde curls loose over one shoulder as she begins to unbutton her shirt.

"I'm home," she says before looking up, "Sorry it took so long. There were a few kids there who--" but then she looks up and sees me leaning by the stove, legs bare and completely exposed beneath the bright blue and yellow pattern of the apron. Her eyes widen and I have to force myself not to read her thoughts. I've learned lately that sometimes it's not worth the heartache.

"Surprise," I say huskily, straightening up and adjusting the cloth of the apron. I feel myself swing, exposed between my thighs as the apron flutters and Dani's breath catches.

For a while, I can't tell what she's feeling; I'm not even sure that she can. I stand there awkwardly, tapping my fingers against the tops of my thighs and trying to grin roguishly. I think the smile comes out as more of a grimace.

Finally I can't take it anymore, so I clench my eyes shut tight and count back from ten.

Dani doesn't say anything.

"Look, this was a stupid idea, I'm sorry—"

But before I can finish what I'm trying to say she runs forward, kicking off her heels and jumping to wrap her legs around my hips and her arms around my neck. I catch her with little effort and her skirt bunches up around her ass.

"Dani, I—"

And then she's kissing me and I can't talk because my tongue is in her mouth and she's bouncing in front of me and I'm getting hard, so I listen in to her thoughts and all I hear is a breathless sort of relieved laughter that's mirrored on her face if I can just stop kissing her long enough to see.

We move quickly and soon I have her laid out across the table, shirt torn off and skirt around her waist as I draw her panties to the side and all the hard work I put into dinner is scattered across the floor of the kitchen.

"Jesus, I've missed this," I say, nipping at her chin and taking off the ridiculous apron and making a mental note to burn it later.

"Me too," she sighs, "Maybe you should cook dinner more often. You look good in women's clothing." She's teasing, but I growl any way, just to show her I'm a man, and bite the underside of her jaw.

"I'm sorry I've been distant," she says suddenly. I still above her long enough to give her one of those impossible to interpret glares I learned from her mother and then go back to kissing her because the feel of her skin beneath my lips is heaven.

And soon, all either of us can hear is the creaking of the table and the slap of flesh against flesh as I make love to her, burying my length between her thighs with ardor as she mewls and whimpers, crying even as her nails dig into my neck and my back and my ass. And she's impossibly heated and I think I taste tears on my face, but I'm not sure who they belong to as I press my cheek to her heaving breast.

"I love you," I murmur, rocking inside of her as she rocks around me and everything about this moment is made achingly real.

"Love you too," she breathes, panting as my lips find hers again and we explode. And now we're free from sadness and anger, from conquest and vengeance; together for this moment that feels like infinity.

**END VOLUME FOUR**


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